Clemenger Group's shareholders have voted in favour of Omnicom's $150 million takeover.
The move, through Omnicom's advertising division BBDO in New York, increases its stake in Clemenger Group from 46.7% to 73.7%, after local shareholders in Australia and New Zealand approved the deal.
Clemenger Group chairman Robert Morgan confirmed to AdNews that the deal was approved by shareholders on Friday last week (28 January), but said the deal still has to be approved by the Supreme Court, which is expected to happen in a week's time.
Clemenger Group, which includes ad agencies Clemenger BBDO, CHE and Colenso BBDO, as well as half of media agency OMD, has traditionally placed huge significance on its local ownership in its identity and culture.
The seeds of the takeover go back as far as 1973, when co-founder Peter Clemenger sold 35% of the company to BBDO.
When the takeover deal was announced last year, Omnicom said it would allow the global network to develop a stronger foothold in the Asia-Pacific region, one of the world's fastest growing ad economies.
Shares in Clemenger have been sold for $6.43 a share, with the group's biggest local shareholder, Robert Morgan, set to make $13 million from the deal.
Morgan said he planned to stay with the group for a long time following the deal: "I'm not planning on going anywhere. I love being part of the company, as do the rest of the management, who are all shareholders."
The deal was one of the biggest transactions of the year. Prior to the Clemenger takeover, Mitchell Communication Group was sold to UK-listed media group Aegis in a $363m deal, though the Omnicom takeover values the Clemenger Group at a higher price than Mitchells.
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