IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky told analysts on an earnings call today that the company was a “good way down the track” with its disposition of its two big digital agencies RG/A and Huge.  

“A lot of work has gone into it,” he said, suggesting that the company would not have announced a $232 million impairment charge related to the agencies and their sale if the firm was not close to a deal.  

That said, Krakowsky declined to offer more specifics on the dispositions until agreements have been signed. He did say that the decision to shed the agencies is part of a portfolio realignment that will likely include more dispositions and acquisitions.  

And the company is also looking at potential consolidations of legacy agencies as one way to help streamline and manage the company. A key question is whether some legacy shops “would perform better if they were under centralized leadership.”   

Potential acquisitions include firms to help manage data assets in commerce and retail media as well as “tactical options” to help scale services in international markets.  

On principal-based buying—where the company buys and resells inventory to clients--Krakowsky described the company as a “fast follower,” meaning it has moved quickly to ramp up its efforts in the area after declining for years to be in the business at all unlike competitors WPP, Omnicom and Publicis Group.  

And despite the late start, Krakowsky says that’s not a disadvantage, given the demand for the offering and the fact that the company has accumulated a lot of inventory that it has not yet placed with clients and media owners. More clients are factoring the principal-based buying option into their media models and IPG’s offering, even at this early stage has helped it win several big pieces of business, Krakowsky told analysts.  

And it's not just about inventory, he stressed. “It’s a bundled solution” combining inventory, data and technology so that the company would help a client figure out where to spend and “how you take it into the market and who you go to market with” for optimal results. 

To some degree principal buying is reshaping partnerships with media owners, he said, meaning “picking fewer, bigger more strategic partnerships that benefit clients and obviously we share in that as well.”  

IPG’s principal buying operation is still being built out--6 to 8 major global markets will be added next year, including markets in Latin America, Australia and elsewhere, Krakowsky said.   

Krakowsky said the tone of business is improving, noting that the technology sector has “found a floor,” with some uptick. Macroeconomic issues have improved somewhat although the IPG chief said that clients “are getting on with it,” despite ongoing concerns.  

He said that IPG would have headwinds going into 2025 but said it was too early to quantify to what extent those headwinds would weigh down results.