- Andrew McMains

NEW YORK Interpublic Group's Gotham has emerged as a late contender in Pizza Hut's $275 million creative review, the client confirmed today.

The shop replaced previously confirmed contender William Morris Endeavor, a unit of IPG that teamed with McCann Worldgroup's Momentum, a Pizza Hut representative said. Gotham had been on a longer list of shops that the client mulled before it cut to finalists last week, according to sources.

The rep confirmed the other finalists on Friday. They are: Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi in New York; Interpublic Group's The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va.; Omnicom Group's Merkley + Partners in New York; and MDC Partners' Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners in New York.

Client executives briefed each shop today, as expected, at Pizza Hut's headquarters in Dallas. Final presentations are scheduled for early December and a decision is expected shortly thereafter.

New York-based consultancy Lee Anne Morgan & Partners, with Alan Krinsky, is managing the process.

The winner will succeed Omnicom's BBDO here -- the brand's lead agency since 1987.

Pizza Hut, a unit of Yum! Brands, spent $275 million in major measured media last year and $144 million in the first seven months of 2009, according to Nielsen. Those figures don't include online spending.