Ad Merger: Big, Bigger, Biggest : Ad Agencies Agree to Merge

Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC said today it has agreed to acquire Ted Bates Worldwide Inc. for $450 million in a deal that would create the world’s largest advertising agency.

The merger, if approved by stockholders and various government agencies, would result in an agency with more than $7.5 billion in annual billings and operations in 50 countries. It would also make British-owned Saatchi larger than the as-yet-unnamed holding company of the recently combined BBDO International Inc., Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc. and Needham Harper Worldwide. That group has combined billings of $5 billion.