Publicis Ups Romanian Ante, Takes Control Of 5 Shops In 'Priority Market'

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, October 1, 2013

Publicis Groupe this morning announced a deal to boost its stake in a group of Romanian shops -- Leo Burnett & Target,

Starcom MediaVest Group, Optimedia, The Practice and iLeo -- to 51%.

The five agencies together employ more than 150 people and are regarded as leaders on their local market, servicing clients such as Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Avon Cosmetics, SanofiAventis, AXA Group, OMV Petrom, GlaxoSmithKline, H&M, Kraft Foods, Novartis Sandoz and Heineken.

Publicis said the majority stake is part of its long-term goal of accelerating its presence in fast-growing markets, and it described Romania as a "priority market in Central & Eastern Europe."

Teddy Dumitrescu (CEO of Grupul Publicis Romania) and Stefan Iordache (CEO and founder of Leo Burnett & Target) will be the co-CEOs of the combined operations, reporting to Tomasz Pawlikowski, CEO of Central & Eastern Europe, Publicis Worldwide.

Dumitrescu also serve as country chairman. Management of the individual agencies will remain unchanged.

Next story loading