WPP, Interpublic 'diligent' about Lowe acquiring Scali By Roy Furchgott and David Kile

NEW YORK--Sources said last week that The Lowe Group's acquisition of Scali, McCabe, Sloves will reach the "definitive agreeme

Scali, McCabe, Sloves chairman Marvin Sloves said he had, “No comment,” regarding the talks. But he commented about speculation regarding Scali’s affiliated agencies– Fallon McElligott and The Martin Agency: “If this proposed deal, or any other that would impact the ownership of Scali, McCabe, Sloves happened, The Martin Agency and Fallon McElligott would continue to operate completely independently just as they always have.”
It would be vital to the future of Fallon to keep its identity as removed from Scali’s as possible. With the addition of Lowe & Partners’ clients, there could be numerous client conflicts that would hamstring the agency. Fallon reportedly was invited to pitch BMW, but had to decline because of the intense rivalry between BMW and Scali’s and Martin’s biggest client, Mercedes-Benz. FM was, however, permitted to respond to an invitation by Oldsmobile.
In the Southeast, the Lowe-Scali deal would make cousins out of Lintas-owned Hawley Martin Partners (Lintas and Lowe are both Interpublic agencies) and The Martin Agency. But executives at both of those advertising shops echoed Sloves’ remarks.
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)