• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 26, 2013

The Dentsu acquisition of Aegis is a done deal, Dentsu confirmed Tuesday. The agreement closed after a final court hearing in the UK cleared the way.

The one remaining anti-trust regulatory barrier to the agreement was also removed Tuesday with word that Chinese authorities approved the deal. China was the lone holdout among foreign countries where Dentsu and Aegis operate to give the deal its blessing.   

“The addition of Aegis represents a massive step toward realizing our vision of a client-centric, collaborative global network” of digital and media agencies, stated Dentsu President and CEO Tadashi Ishii.

All of the companies that operated under Aegis Group (Carat, Isobar, Vizeum and others) as an independent company will continue to operate within the Dentsu group under the Aegis Media banner. A new organizational layer has been created: The Dentsu Aegis Network.

Jerry Buhlmann, who remains CEO Aegis Media, has been appointed CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network and Tim Andree, CEO of the Dentsu Network, takes on the additional title of executive chairman of the new organizational group. A management board has also been created for the Dentsu Aegis Network that includes Andree, Buhlmann and other senior-level Aegis and Dentsu executives.

Under the new setup, Buhlmann will report to Andree, a rep confirmed. Andree reports to the Dentsu Group Board, as he previously did, and will run the Dentsu Aegis Network Board. Buhlmann will run Aegis Media and the Dentsu Aegis Network, which comprises all of Aegis’s businesses and Dentsu’s assets outside of Japan.

“This is called the closing of the deal, but it really is the beginning,” stated Andree. “Our complementary geographic and product portfolios, as well as the strong positive chemistry that is rooted in our shared values, can only result in more and better ways to collaborate and serve our respective clients and their businesses around the world.”

Added Buhlmann: “We have created the world’s first truly global communication network with the ability to deliver integrated and specialist services that add real value to our clients’ businesses in a transforming market.”

The combined group operates in 110 countries and employs more than 36,000 people. Dentsu said it was now the No. 1 ranked marketing communications services network in the Asia-Pacific region, a rapidly growing force in North America and a “truly scaled operator in Europe.”