The chief executive of French advertising giant, Publicis, has said that buying Parisian based Havas ‘is not really something we need desperately’.
Ever since Havas lost out on the bid for Grey Global of the US to WPP, speculation about a take-over bid has been surrounding the group and the natural buyer would be Publicis, if only because there are so few potential buyers for Havas among the other major holding companies.
Maurice Levy, chief executive of the world’s fourth largest marketing services group, Publicis, told the Financial Times, he would look at Havas if it had a for sale sign but he thinks that current market prices for the group are inflated. Currently Havas has a market capitalisation of â‚Ź1.9 billion, compared to Publicis’ â‚Ź4.5 billion.
He said: “There is not really something we need desperately. We can control our future.”
Others to have expressed an interest in Havas is Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, however he is busy closing the Grey deal, while Interpublic is unlikely to make a move for the group as its has too many operational and debt problems.
During the interview, Levy, said that he admires Havas’ creative abilities, particularly in France and the US and some analysts have wondered whether a Havas-Publicis deal would make sense because the two companies can often be found representing clients on opposite sides of a French competitive divide.
However, Levy thinks these conflict of interest questions are less interesting to clients and states this is not the reason that Publicis decided not to bid for Grey. He said: “The world has changed a great deal and we can today organise under the umbrella of one holding company, agencies which are working independently. When you have four holding companies you have fewer companies than there are advertising in the world. That is a fact of life and we have to find the right solutions.”
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