Publicis announced on Tuesday that Lévy, who had been expected to leave at the end of 2015, would now be leaving in the first half of 2017, as part of a management restructure. Publicis did not announce a replacement for the 72-year-old Lévy but did reveal that the man groomed to replace him, Jean-Yves Naouri, had been sidelined from a newly-configured management board. Analysts believe Lévy is staying on so his last act at the company would not be a failed merger with Omnicom.