Publicis Groupe is eyeing a controlling bid for Seoul-based Cheil Worldwide, which will see it take 30% of the company.
According to reports in Bloomberg, the percentage would make it the largest shareholder of the group.
Cheil started out as the in-house agency for Samsung, which currently owns 25% of the business. It is thought Samsung will retain a large holding in Cheil if the deal does go ahead, with the agency group having a market value of $1.9 billion, according to Bloomberg.
The reports follow an announcement made by Publicis Groupe chairman Maurice Levy in December that the group would be shifting the way it operates globally. Calling it “The Power of One”, the restructure involves splitting it into four units and removing silos.
It also follows the US$3.6 billion acquisition of Sapient, which was completed in February last year.
Previously, Publicis had been in merger talks with Omnicom for a deal that would have created the world’s biggest advertising group. However, the move was called off in May 2014 after negotiations collapsed.
Cheil, whose moniker is ‘Ideas that Move’ has offices across the globe, including Sydney.
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