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WPP is retiring the Grey Global shop, which bills itself as “famously effective since 1917,” as CEO Mark Read continues the revamp of the ad/PR giant.
Grey is being teamed with digital shop AKQA to form the AKQA Group with 6,000 staffers in more than 50 countries.
Ajaz Ahmed, AKQA founder, will helm the new combine. Grey CEO Michael Houston will take the president/COO position.
The AKQA Group will launch with both brands intact though they will be eventually be integrated into a single brand.
The consolidation, according to Read, meets client demand for creativity and technology on a global scale. “This new company is designed precisely to meet those needs and is another important step forward in building our future-facing offer for clients,” said Read.
He already has combined WPP shops to create Wunderman Thompson, VMLY&R and BCW.
S&P Global has reaffirmed its negative “BBB” rating on WPP due to ongoing challenges that it will face during the next 12 months.
Stagwell’s Q4 revenues grew two percent to $807M while adjusted EBITDA rose three percent to $129M.
WPP CEO Cindy Rose unveiled “Elevate 28,” a strategic plan to simplify the troubled company, which reported a 5.4 percent drop in 2025 revenues to $13.6B.
Omnicom CEO John Wren reported a Q4 $977.2M operating loss, largely due to the $1.1B in severance and repositioning expenses connected to the $13B Interpublic takeover that closed on Nov. 26.
Publicis Groupe reports an 8.8 percent rise in 2025 net revenues to $16.4B with
