Sources suggest that Grey, the US's third-largest advertising group, is considering all options, including a sale. The hiring of the two banks has sparked speculation that that 77-year-old chairman Ed Meyer, who controls much of the group's voting stock and more than 18% of the company, could be set to stand down.
Meyer, who still works directly with larger clients, has also steadfastly refused to name a successor.
Two weeks ago, Tim Mellors, the former executive creative director of Grey Worldwide, rejoined the agency as president and chief creative officer of Grey Worldwide North America, after being lured out of retirement to partner with CEO Steve Blamer again.
Grey is declining to comment on the hiring of the banks, but it renews talk about which direction Grey will head in next.
Grey has long been seen as a potential takeover target or merger partner, but has resolutely stood on the sidelines as its larger rivals, such as Omnicom Group, WPP Group and Publicis Groupe, have snapped up almost all of their smaller rivals.
Other than Grey, only Havas remains small. Havas is seen as the weakest of the advertising groups operating on the global stage. Like Grey, it has only one international advertising network and its media planning and buying network, Media Planning Group, is weak in comparison with rivals, including Grey's MediaCom.
Last year, Havas and Grey Global hit back at comments made by Sir Martin Sorrell, who derided the prospects of the mid-sized advertising groups and said that when it comes to advertising holding companies, size was everything. "The middle ground is a very uncomfortable place to be," Sir Martin said.
He argued that seventh-placed Grey, known for its slow and steady approach as well its reliance on Procter & Gamble, was damaging itself by literally giving its services away.
Last month, Grey Global reported pre-tax first-quarter profits up by 43.9% on the back of significant improvement in Europe to $4.9m (拢2.7m), compared with the corresponding quarter in 2003. Revenues were up 15% to $343.9m, a rise of $46.2m on the same quarter in 2003.
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