Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe have withdrawn their merger plan. According to the May 8th edition of Ad Age online, both companies' boards of directors gave final approval to the withdrawal. Omnicom cited the difficulty of completing the agreement by the appropriate time as the reason. As this was a mutual agreement, no termination fees will be incurred.
Had the "equal merger valued at $35 billion" between Omnicom Group (world's second-largest) and Publicis Groupe (third-largest), announced in July 2013, been realized, it would have created the world's largest advertising industry, significantly surpassing the current leader, WPP Group. However, the lack of stock price reaction following the announcement suggests the market was skeptical about this merger of giants from the outset. Upon news of the merger's withdrawal, Omnicom's stock price fell below its level at the time of the announcement. Meanwhile, WPP Group and Interpublic Group saw their stock prices rise.
The merger was scheduled to close in December 2013. According to sources, a power struggle ensued between the two companies over key appointments, including the CFO position. Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research, stated, "I'm even surprised that sufficient arrangements regarding organizational structure and personnel weren't made ahead of the plan."
Source: AdAge
Publicis and Omnicom Call Off Mega-Merger
Deal to Create World's Largest Agency Company Crashes and Burns
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