• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 15, 2007

In a surprising development, one of the top members of Aegis Group's management team - CFO Jeremy Hicks - is stepping down and will be replaced by a former top finance executive at U.S.-based Omnicom Group. The timing of the transition is noteworthy for several reasons, including the fact that Omnicom is believed to have an eye on Aegis as a possible acquisition target, though unlike its rivals at Publics, WPP Group and Havas, has not made its desires public.

The changing of Aegis' financial guard also came as the London-based media services and research holding company announced exceedingly strong full-year 2006 results (see related story in today's MediaDailyNews, and weeks before ardent suitor Vincent Bollore makes his third bid to gain seats on Aegis' board during a special shareholder's meeting set for April 4.

The Aegis board implied Hicks was leaving for personal reasons, noting that he plans to relocate to the U.S. to be with family. Hicks has been CFO of Aegis since 2000, and oversaw its finances during a period in which the company more than doubled in size.

Aegis' new CFO, Alicja Lesniak, starts April 1. From 1995 to 2006 she worked at Omnicom and was CFO of its BBDO EMEA operations for seven years, as well as a member of its worldwide board. Prior to that, she was a top financial executive at Ogilvy & Mather and JWT.