- Noreen O'Leary

NEW YORK Michael Birkin, the CEO of Omnicom Group Asia Pacific and widely believed to be among three internal candidates to one day succeed Omnicom Group chief executive John Wren, has quit the company to take a majority interest in RPMC, a U.S.-based events firm with offices in London and Los Angeles. Birkin, a 15-year veteran of Omnicom, was also a corporate vice chairman.

Tim Love, who is also a corporate vice chair, was named CEO of Asia Pacific India Middle East Africa (APIMA) operations, effective July 1. At the same time, Serge Dumont assumes an expanded role as president of Omnicom APIMA and chairman of Asia Pacific. Dumont, an Omnicom svp, had been president of the company's Asia Pacific ops.

"We are delighted to have Tim on point to identify opportunities in this region and to help clients maximize opportunities in global marketing," Wren said in a statement. "Tim's track record of global brand building and collaboration are key assets in an evolving global marketplace. He has partnered with clients to successfully launch brands in most geographies and cultures. He will work very closely with Serge Dumont who has been instrumental in developing Omnicom's footprint in Asia Pacific."

During his 35-year career, Love has held senior client relationship positions in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to becoming a vice chair at the holding company in 2006, he was president, global clients at Omnicom unit TBWA Worldwide, where he was the Tokyo-based executive responsible for the agency's largest global client, Nissan Motor Company's Nissan and Infiniti automobiles. Before joining TBWA in 2004, Love was vice chair, international, at Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi, and served as relationship manager for the French holding company's global portfolio of Procter & Gamble business, handling 124 brands across four agency networks. During that time, he also supervised the UBS Wealth Management account and served on the worldwide board of directors for Saatchi & Saatchi.