He is in talks with pan-European media owners, including RTL and Viacom, about cross-territory deals.
Pardon takes on the new role alongside his responsibilities at MindShare as CEO of Team Uni-lever Europe.
He was initially involved in the agency’s successful pitch for the Unilever business and is now ramping up the Group M European and global structure under its European chief executive, Kelly Clark.
There has been speculation that Unilever's £600m European business would be the centre of a drive by Group M to secure preferential deals across Europe.
However, Media Week understands Group M, which has an average 30% share of media spend across sectors, is not looking to focus on one client but to exploit its investment power across its portfolio.
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