French advertising group Publicis (PUBP.PA) said it would purchase U.S.-based Rosetta Marketing Group for at least $575 million in cash in a move that will boost its digital and interactive marketing service offerings In addition to the initial transaction value, Rosetta's manager-shareholders can receive a potential deferred payment in 2014 based on the agency's performance between 2011 and 2013, Publicis said in a statement on Tuesday. Princeton-based Rosetta is expected to have annual revenue of nearly $250 million in 2011. This acquisition is consistent with Publicis' target to increase its revenue derived from digital to 35 percent over the next three years, Publicis said. Publicis is the world's third-largest advertising group, which competes with WPP (WPP.L) and Omnicom (OMC.N).
Omnicom Group Inc. (Omnicom) is a holding company, providing professional services to the clients through multiple agencies around the world. Shares of OMC fell by 1.15% or $-0.55/share to $47.41. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $33.50 and as high as $51.25. On average, 2341270 shares of OMC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1328121.
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