Three Media Companies Eye Union By Richard Brunell

CHICAGO - Speculation percolated on two continents last week that Dentsu in Japan, Carat in Europe and Western International Media in this country soon will join

The company, being pieced together by the heads of the three concerns under the working title Worldwide Media Management, still is very much in the formative stages. But execs with knowledge of the deal say Dentsu will take an equity position in either the Paris-based Carat or its parent, London-based Aegis Corp. These execs also said Carat would either merge with or purchase Western.
‘It would be a formidable alliance,’ said John Perriss, chairman of Zenith Media Worldwide in London, which competes with Carat in Europe.
‘Carat has great strength in Europe; Dentsu is a near anti-trust in Japan,’ he added. ‘If Carat does no more that ally with Dentsu, that would be good for them. If they get into bed with Western too, it would be a helluva deal.’
It would indeed. Dentsu places about $7-$8 billion in media in Japan. Carat, Europe’s largest buying service, would add another $5 billion. And Western handles $1.3 billion in this country.
‘There’s probably a lot of sense to it,’ said one London-based media stock analyst. ‘The fact that media buying in the States has become more a la carte helps Western because it makes them more appealing’ to Carat and Dentsu.
But the deal has not been struck yet. In fact, Roger Parry, development director for Aegis, categorically denies Dentsu is about to take an equity position in Carat.
‘There’s no prospect of that whatsoever,’ he insisted.
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)