If Publicis is successful in its bid for B|Com3, it would create the world's fourth-largest advertising company behind the Interpublic Group of Companies, WPP Group and Omnicom.
The deal would combine the French group's agencies Publicis, Fallon and Saatchi & Saatchi, with the US-owned Leo Burnett Group and D'Arcy. On the media side, it brings together Publicis' media-buying agency the Zenith Optimedia Group, which is partly owned by Cordiant, with Starcom MediaVest on the B|Com3 side.
The deal being discussed is worth more than $3bn in stock, and would see Roger Haupt, chief executive of B|Com3, take a role in running the North American operations of Publicis, it is reported.
B|Com3 is 20% owned by the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, which is currently the fourth largest network in the world. However, Dentsu is likely to keep a stake in the merged company, diluted to between 10% to 15%, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. It is thought that the groups' boards met yesterday, in time to make an announcement today.
Currently the seventh largest ad group in the world, B|Com3 said this week that its worldwide revenue had gone up by 5.6% to $1.9bn for 2001, while Publicis reported revenue of €2.43bn (£1.49bn), up by 37.5% on last year. Combined revenue for the two agencies would be more than $4bn.
B|Com3 was formed out of the merger of Leo Burnett Worldwide and the MacManus Group in March 2000. It has been slated to undertake an IPO, but called it off last year due to adverse market conditions.
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