• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 21, 2005

With WPP facing a deadline of Friday to make a formal bid to acquire Aegis Group, French financier Vincent Bollore had emerged as the new power broker in the media services world. At presstime, WPP Chairman-CEO Martin Sorrell and his partners at U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman reportedly were in talks with Bollore to make a joint bid to acquire Aegis, the parent of Carat, Vizeum, Isobar and Posterscope, as well as some prized marketing research assets. Bollore already controls nearly 25 percent of Aegis shares, and has taken control of French rival Havas, and according to a new report now has interests representing 12.7 percent of the global media services marketplace.

Worldwide Media Network Market Shares

2005 Market Share     Billings Vs. 2004  
WPP (Group M)                       22.3%                +13.0%  
Publicis (Publicis Groupe Media)    16.0%                +11.0%  
Omnicom (Omnicom
Media Group)       11.7%                 +5.0%  
Interpublic                         10.9%                 -3.0%  
Aegis                                9.0%                 +5.0%  
Havas
3.7%                 +2.4%  

Bollore Group                       12.7%                 +4.0%  

Source: RECMA. Billings as of November 2005.

The estimates, which come from a projection of 2005 media services billings released Saturday by Paris-based RECMA, place Bollore's interests ahead of both Omnicom and Interpublic as the world's third biggest operator of media services businesses. WPP ranks No. 1 with a 22.3 percent share of the media services market, followed by Publicis Group with a 16.0 percent share.

Should Bollore throw in with WPP, it could create a syndicate representing more than a third of global media planning and buying billings, dwarfing all other competitors by comparison and consolidating the media services industry to an even greater extent.

Aegis previously imposed Friday as a deadline for WPP to make an earnest offer to acquire Aegis, and according to the European financial press WPP, H&F and Bollore have asked Aegis to extend the deadline in anticipation of a joint bid.

Meanwhile, the new RECMA estimates illustrate a new world order for the media services industry. While WPP's combined media services units - MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, and MediaCom - make WPP the biggest holding company, Omnicom's OMD unit is now the biggest planner and buyer of media in the world with a 9.5 percent share of the total marketplace. Publicis' Starcom MediaVest Group ranks second with a 9.1 percent share, followed by WPP's MindShare with an 8.8 percent share.

Aegis Carat unit ranked fourth with an 8.1 percent share, followed by WPP's Mediaedge:cia with a 7.0 percent share, and Publicis' ZenithOptimedia Group with a 6.9 percent share. ZenithOptimedia had the greatest growth in 2005 with estimated billings rising 15.7 percent over 2004, while Omnicom's PHD unit was the industry's laggard, falling 3.5 percent from 2004.

Based on a tally of RECMA's estimates the six major agency holding companies now control 74 percent of global media planning and buying, and appear to be growing more quickly than the rest of the market. The Big 6's billings rose 7.4 percent over 2004 versus unaffiliated media services providers tracked by RECMA, which rose only 3.3 percent. The total industry grew 6.3 percent.

Worldwide Media Agency Market Shares

                        2005 Market Share     Billings Vs. 2004  
OMD                                 9.5%                  +6.8%  
Starcom MediaVest                   9.1%
+7.1%  
MindShare                           8.8%                 +12.5%  
Carat                               8.1%                  +4.6%  
Mediaedge:cia                       7.0%
+14.4%  
ZenithOptimedia                     6.9%                 +15.7%  
MediaCom                            6.5%                 +10.9%  
Initiative                          5.5%
-3.1%  
Universal McCann                    5.4%                  -2.3%  
MPG                                 3.7%                  +2.4%  
PHD                                 2.2%
-3.5%  
Vizeum                              0.9%                  +9.5%  
Total Affiliated With Networks     74.0%                  +7.4%  

Others*                            26.0%
+3.3%  

Total Media Services Market       100.0%                  +6.3%                          

Source: RECMA. Billings as of November 2005.