The operation will be called G-Mec and is to be headed by Irwin Gottleib, chairman and CEO of Mindshare, and Charles Courtier, executive chairman of Mediaedge:CIA.
Details of the joint venture have yet to be formally released, but earlier this week WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said: "Professionally, the parent company's objectives continue to be to encourage greater coordination and cooperation between group companies."
However, what it will not do is herald any merging of the two network's operations.
The move already has some precedence in the industry. In 2001, the Interpublic Group of Companies, which owns the Universal McCann and Initiative Media media-buying networks, created Magna Global as a central point of contact for the group's clients.
Aegis-owned Carat also formed a central negotiating point with BBJ Media and Feather Brooksbank in December 2000.
Other media-buying giants, including Publicis' Zenith Optimedia and Omnicom's OMD and PHD networks, could possibly follow suit.
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