Havas Media | MPG

Havas Media is the umbrella for the media planning and buying units of marketing service group Havas, of which the best known is traditional global network MPG. That business was created in 1999 from the merger between the Havas-owned Mediapolis and SFM agencies with independent Spanish company Media Planning. Working alongside MPG are secondary network Arena, a digital media and CRM division and a collection of specialised sports and entertainment agencies. Operating mainly in Western Europe and the Americas, MPG was the world's #9 network in 2007 with billings of $11.2bn (according to Recma). As the smallest of the consolidated global media networks, Havas Media has spent several years looking for a partner which might help boost its international coverage. Although very strong in Spain, France and Latin America, the group is comparatively weak elsewhere. Havas' 2007 media billings were around half the figure estimated for the next largest group, Aegis.

So far, however, all attempts to strike a transformational deal have been frustrated. An agreed merger with UK-based CIA was abandoned in 2001 when the British company was targeted by WPP instead, and approaches to Aegis (parent of the Carat and Vizeum networks) have repeatedly been blocked by that company's shareholders. Yet despite these challenges, MPG's performance has steadily improved since 2005, and the Havas Media umbrella was created at the end of 2006 to consolidate its various associated businesses under a single management team. Despite the failure of past negotiations, most industry observers still expect some form of alliance to be struck with Aegis. Havas chairman Vincent Bolloré is now the biggest shareholder in both groups.

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MPG	Media Contacts
Arena	Havas Digital
Cake	Havas Sports

Havas

MPG North America

MPG UK

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