Omnicom is taking full ownership of digital agency Critical Mass as its digital creative shop EVB buys back its independence.
"Omnicom is pleased to increase our majority stake in Critical Mass," said an Omnicom spokeswoman. "Critical Mass is a highly successful global digital marketing agency with a strong management team led by Dianne Wilkins, a digital veteran. They are an important asset to our portfolio of agencies and work with many of our top clients around the world."
"I can confirm that EVB is no longer a part of the group," she added.
The changes come less than a year after the failure of Omnicom's attempted merger with Publicis, which has a more-aggressive digital M&A strategy. A few weeks ago, Publicis agreed to acquire Sapient Corp for $3.7 billion. Omnicom has remained fairly quiet.
But Omnicom has never been known for acquiring large digital agencies, instead preferring small acquisitions and investments. It's staying the course for now as evident in its latest move to relinquish one digital shop and take full ownership of another.
"In terms of Omnicom's M&A approach – it is growing through a combination of strategic acquisitions as well as focused organic investments in our agencies," said a spokeswoman. "Meeting our clients' needs by service offering and geographic location is the first test for all our acquisitions, followed by cultural fit and price."