N.W. Ayer to Purchase Reiser Williams deYong

Reiser Williams deYong Inc., the second-largest advertising agency based in Orange County, is scheduled to be sold, along with two sister companies, to N.W. Ayer & Son Inc., the nation’s oldest advertising agency.

Terms of the tentative agreement, including the price, are not expected to be established until Wednesday, when the value of the three subsidiaries of the Mickelberry Corp. will be set, said John Morton, Mickelberry’s assistant treasurer.

The New York holding company wants to close the transaction that day to enjoy income tax advantages that will be eliminated next year under the new tax law, Morton said.

Reiser Williams’ management has had no time to discuss with Ayer executives such questions as whether the Irvine-based advertising agency will be separately managed or merged into Ayer’s Los Angeles office or whether it will retain its name and current management, said Richard Reiser, the agency’s chairman.

Reiser said he does not anticipate that any of the company’s 86 employees will be laid off or that the new Irvine office, which the company moved into this month, or the San Francisco branch office will be closed by Ayer.

Reiser Williams, which had billings of $40 million last year, started as an independent agency in 1975.