Payne Stracey seals DM merger
Payne Stracey is understood to be completing its merger with sister Omnicom agency Tequila London this week, to create a top direct marketing and sales promotion agency with a billings equivalent of 96m.
It is thought that Payne Stracey managing director Ben Stephens will take the top job in the merged agency, though he refused to answer calls to confirm this.
It is unclear what positions other senior executives will take within the agency, though one source speculates that Payne Stracey creative director Mike Cavers will become overall creative director.
Tom Wass, Tequila Worldwide chief executive and chairman and chief executive of Tequila London, will take a chairman’s role in the new agency, while Tequila London managing director Jane Asscher will take a European role, a source says. It is unclear what roles founders David Payne and Andrew Stracey will play. None of the players would make any comment.
The merger, predicted by Marketing Week (June 18), follows a restructure of parent company Omnicom, which has merged the networks that own the two agencies.
BDDP Worldwide, which runs Tequila, and TBWA International, which runs Payne Stracey, merged to form TBWA Worldwide in May. TBWA UK chairman Paul Simons declined to comment on the deal.
It is understood that GGT Direct will be kept separate so its Vauxhall business does not conflict with Payne Stracey’s Nissan account. Tequila and Payne Stracey have no such obvious conflicts.
