The agency, which previously worked for Akzo Nobel in Spain, will work across Europe on media planning and buying for brands including Crown and Sandtex in the UK.
It has won the £5 million UK Crown account from Mediaedge:cia Manchester as part of the process. Universal McCann will also work on planning and buying for brands including Astral in France and Flexa in The Netherlands.
Akzo Nobel called the centralisation pitch to create efficiencies and to put an agency in place that could co-ordinate a European strategy.
Based in The Netherlands, Akzo Nobel has focused its UK media spend on Crown Breatheasy. Its UK creative, handled by BDH\TBWA, is unaffected by the review.
Thomas Stoeckl, the European synergy director at Akzo Nobel, said: "Universal McCann has the best offering in the marketplace and its European co-ordination capabilities are particularly strong."
Chris Shaw, the regional director for Universal McCann EMEA, said: "We're delighted to be working with Akzo Nobel - it has strong brands and a great heritage."
Akzo Nobel is also a leading chemical supplier for products such as ice-cream, bakery goods and cosmetics.
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