Aegis CEO Buhlmann claims Dentsu deal will bring continuity and stability to group shareholders

The most important thing is that I believe that this creates a compelling offer within the market. It creates the first communication group that is born in the digital age. It creates a compelling combination of geographies, and capabilities and resources with a shared vision and shared strategies.

He highlighted that 84% of Dentu's revenue was generated from within Japan and claimed that the deal would make Aegis the first marketing service group from outside the country to achieve scale there.

“[This deal] gives them [Dentu] access to the fastest growing global network in the market. They get access to our momentum and they get a strong, global footprint,” he claimed, before stating that benefits for Aegis would focus around ‘continuity, stability’ and ‘an enhanced platform for growth’. He also said that the deal gave Aegis “a secure, long-term shareholder base’, with greater scale.

“With the stability of the new shareholder base we will be able to continue to invest in the business but also continue to invest in targeted, bolt-on acquisitions. It’s been a very strong strategy of our year so far and I’m very encouraged that in the new combination we will be able to continue to accelerate our business growth through further acquisition,” he said later in the interview.

Aegis has today released documents that outline the acquisition to investors ahead of their vote as to whether the deal should proceed. If it does go ahead, Buhlmann said that he believed that it would be completed by the fourth quarter of 2012 and added that he would stay until, at least, the end of 2013, and that senior management were also committed to remain ‘for the foreseeable future’.