• Adweek, Monday, October 13, 2008 9 AM

When it completes its acquisition of TNS by early November, WPP will still be the No. 2 ad agency holding company behind Omnicom -- but the gap will be significantly narrower.

A key benefit: the TNS acquisition will enable WPP to become much less reliant on ad-related businesses, which will help during the economic downturn. With TNS, WPP's ad businesses will contribute just 40% to the holding company's revenue.

TNS will remain a distinct and separate brand, managed within WPP's research arm, the Kantar Group, headed by Kantar CEO Eric Salama. TNS CEO Donald Brydon says he hasn't been offered a job with WPP. Indeed, TNS layoffs appear to be inevitable as WPP seeks $100 million in annual savings by consolidating the overlapping consumer research panels each company currently maintains.

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