The consolidation of the world’s PR supergroups continues this week
with the announcement that US media group Omnicom is poised to buy
advertising group Abbot Mead Vickers. While advertising driven, the
acquisition widens the gap even further between Omnicom, as owner of the
world’s largest PR grouping, and its nearest rival Interpublic.
It also lands a handful of strong medium-sized agencies including
Fishburn Hedges, Freud Communications and Aurelia PR in the lap of
Communications Consulting Worldwide. To date Omnicom has been true to
its word and retained the autonomy of its PR brands. However, this
latest merger could prove a happy accident for Fleishman-Hillard, which
has actively been looking at building its UK critical mass for some
time. Having failed to secure a deal so far, it may need to look no
further than its newly acquired cousins.
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