Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group step back with their mega-union

The groups agreed not to set up the union announced at the end of 2013 and that would create the biggest communication group of the world.According to what Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group announced in different media, the mutual agreement of stepping back with the union is due to the difficulty to complete the operation in a reasonable deadline for both groups.Both companies were free of all the obligations regarding the proposed transaction and there will not be a cancel fee for any of them.In a joint declaration, Maurice Levy, Publicis Groupe’s president and CEO and John Wren, Omnicom Group’s president and CEO said: “The challenges that we still have to face, besides the slowness of progresses, created uncertainty that went against both group’s interests, their employees, clients and shareholders. Together, we decided to proceed separately. Of course, we will continue being competitor, but we keep a lot of respect for each other.”On his behalf, Martin Sorrell, WPP’s CEO (group that has the first place in income of the sector) said in an interview to AdAge: “I don’t believe the breakup had been a surprise. What surprises is that it came too fast. Many people believed the process would last a month, more or less, but the majority thought it was a dead agreement.”