F or someone who adores the spotlight, there can have been fewer sweeter moments for Maurice Lévy than when he entered a sunlit room on the top floor of his Paris headquarters on Sunday and told the world of his plans to create the largest ever advertising group.
Dressed in a sharp black suit, black tie and the crispest of white shirts, the 71-year-old chief executive of France’s Publicis Groupe said that the $35.1bn tie-up with Omnicom, a former rival from the US, would be “a merger of equals”. Even if that is true, the announcement itself was anything but: flanked by a press-shy John Wren, Omicom’s chief executive, Mr Lévy dominated the event, cajoling journalists with his warm and easy charm.
“Is this a swansong? I don’t know,” he responded in a velvety French accent to a question about the merger and succession. “I know that when the swan sings, he is dying, so I prefer not to think about it.” It was one of several crowd-pleasers that afternoon. Beyond the show, many people wonder if Mr Lévy’s latest deal – by far his biggest – actually makes sense. One fundamental question is whether joining what are, in essence, two large holding companies creates shareholder value. The combined group would have six creative agencies. Is that too many?