It would be interesting to know how much Dixons’ and Carphone Warehouse’s respective agencies – AMV/BBDO and CHI & Partners – knew about the two companies’ proposed £4bn merger.
The two are expected to announce the terms this week which will, almost certainly, be followed by a referral to the Competitions and Markets Authority.
On the face of it there’s no particular need to change the agency set-up – but all such deals are about cost savings as much as anything else and one agency is cheaper than two.
AMV was only only recently appointed by Dixons, which left M&C Saatchi after decades.
Dixons brands include Currys and PC World and the obvious attraction of the deal from their point of view is a bigger presence in mobile. Dunstone has always been interested in getting into bigger electricals and he seems undeterred by a failed bid to enter the UK market in partnership with US giant Best Buy.
Between them Dixons and Carphone Warehouse (which also owns TalkTalk) spend close to £100m on advertising. If the accounts are consolidated AMV looks in the best position as CHI also handles Argos, a competitor to Dixons.