Dentsu completes Aegis acquisition
Eight months after the $4.8bn deal was first reported, Japanese advertising giant Dentsu has completed the acquisition of media group Aegis Media.
The deal is expected to see major Aegis shareholder Harold Mitchell, who sold his business Mitchell & Partners to Aegis in 2012, continue in his role as Aegis Media Pacific executive chairman.
For now it will be “business as usual” regarding the location and management of both agencies, Dentsu Australia’s boss John O’Connor told Mumbrella this morning.
Aegis Media in Australia, led by Mitchell as executive chairman, operates agency brands including Mitchells – Australia’s only billion-dollar media buying point – Carat, Vizeum and Visual Jazz Isobar. Dentsu Australia has 15 staff handling key client Toyota, and reportedly has struck a non-equity alliance with Sydney start-up Archibald Williams.
The Aegis acquisition sees Dentsu’s global reach spread to 111 countries and 36,000 staff.
Dentsu has announced the creation of the Dentsu Aegis Network, a new global operating unit headquartered in London, to oversee the operations of the Dentsu Network, which manages all of Dentsu’s global business outside of Japan, and Aegis Media’s operations globally.
US-based Dentsu SVP and Dentsu Network CEO Tim Andree has been appointed executive chairman of the Dentsu Aegis Network, and Aegis Media boss Jerry Buhlmann retains this title, and will also by CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network.
On the board of the Dentsu Aegis Network will be executives from both companies, including Tadashi Ishii, Shoichi Nakamoto, Tim Andree, Kuni Matsushima and Nicholas Rey from Dentsu, and Jerry Buhlmann, Nigel Morris, Nick Waters, Nick Priday and Valeria Scoular from Aegis.
“The addition of Aegis represents a massive step toward realising our vision of a client centric, collaborative global network of the best-in-class brand, digital and media services,” said Dentsu president and CEO Tadashi Ishii.
The merged entity is “the only network built in and for the digital age,” a press release reads.
Got to hand it to MItchell… what an operator!
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