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Interpublic

Analysts are now watching Interpublic closely. “With news of Omnicom and Publicis merging, Interpublic will immediately be considered to be in play by investors,” said Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser, who revised his year-end target stock price for IPG to $21 from $16. “Our revised price target is determined by maintaining our business profile estimates, but by applying the costs of capital embedded in our price target for the most likely acquirer, WPP.”

But he also suggested Havas could be an acquirer, given the Bollore family’s commitment to the industry, as well as Dentsu, if it wants to be viable outside Japan (its dominance there will remain even after Publicis and Omnicom merge). “It will need a stronger presence in the U.S. and Europe,” he said. “Meanwhile, WPP … will undoubtedly reconsider the limits to scale it may previously have assumed. All of this is to say that we now have as many as three potential acquirers for IPG, which offers the best solution for each of the companies who might want to buy it.”

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