Havas sees some “interesting” bits and pieces for sale at Omnicom and WPP.
The France-based global group has a strategy of bolt-on and targeted acquisitions but has so far steered away from larger deals.
Havas in 2025 acquired five agencies, among them prominent Australian independent Kaimera, now part of the Havas Media Network, bringing Havas ANZ’s headcount to 450.
The company has this year to date acquired majority stakes in four agencies: Spain's Acento Public Affairs; Ctrl Digital in Sweden; Styleheads in Berlin-based agency; and Eyesight, a French agency.
In a briefing on its March quarter results, Havas was asked questions by analysts about opportunities from reports that competitors Omnicom and WPP are selling parts of their businesses.
“You’ve done a few bolt-ons, but you’ve mentioned at your last call that you have a bit of capacity to go beyond the bolt-ons,” said Annick Maas, an analyst at Bernstein.
“Omnicom has quite a few interesting assets to sell, and they are sellers, so that’s always a good position to be in for you guys.
“Can you just give a little bit more thoughts on what you’ve been thinking on more transformational M&A?”
CFO François Laroze said the company has always indicated it was ready to look at “bigger” fishes.
“We know, maybe, there will be some agencies to sell by Omnicom," Laroze said. "Also, we saw some rumours on WPP businesses.
“We will obviously look at all of these, but today we are very happy with our bolt-on strategy.
“We remain open to any bigger deal but ... we have not been working on any of these deals.
“We know we can afford this type of deal, but we need to ensure that it fits with our strategy … with our ambition to have a very integrated model.
“We will contemplate any opportunity.”
WPP is reportedly looking at selling its global public relations business, Burson, according to unconfirmed reports.
This is in the context of WPP undergoing significant restructuring under new CEO Cindy Rose, who is focused on returning the company to profitability next year.
Omnicom, in the middle of integrating takeover target IPG, has some assets to offload.
The group, now the world’s biggest global advertising company, has identified “non-strategic and underperforming” businesses for sale or exit, raising about $US2.5 billion.
Omnicom hasn’t revealed which bits of the new empire are up for sale.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.