1984 Eurocom buys 51% of Y&R subsidiary Marsteller, merging it with Paris agency Havas Conseil.
Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample sells ownership in 13 European agencies to Dorland Advertising, London, subsidiary of Saatchi & Saatchi.
1985 D'Arcy MacManus Masius and Benton & Bowles merge, ranking No. 8.
TV production company Lorimar purchases Bozell & Jacobs, merging it with K&E, bought in 1984.
Hal Riney & Partners spins off of Ogilvy.
Scali buys 75% of Fallon McElligott Rice, Minneapolis.
1986 "Near-hysteria levels of agency buying and selling": Omnicom Group formed to hold BBDO, DDB and Needham Harper Worldwide, with latter two merging; Saatchi develops "insatiable" craving for U.S. properties, including Bates, Backer & Spielvogel and DFS; WCRS, London, buys Della Femina, Travisano & Partners; FCB buys Leber Katz Partners.
Saatchi & Saatchi up-ends Interpublic as top agency group.
DFS Dorland Worldwide created by linkup of Saatchi's U.K. subsidiary with New York's DFS; billings of $1.5 billion.
1987 Domestic billings drop for the second consecutive year.
Backer Spielvogel Bates formed, lands at No. 3 ranking among agencies.
WPP Group, London, gets JWT in $566 million hostile takeover.
$200 million Burger King account exits JWT and goes to Ayer; $100 million Army account leaves Ayer for Y&R.
1988 FCB forms "alliance" with France's Publicis Communica-tion, takes No. 5 slot among consolidated shops.
For first time, top 25 shops record higher gross income from foreign operations than from domestic.
1989 For first time, AA's major ranking includes non-U.S.-based agencies and Dentsu takes top honors with $1.3 billion in worldwide gross income.
WPP acquires Ogilvy Group.
International billings growth slowed to 14.2%, from annual growth rates of 30.6% in '88 and 55.9% in '87.
1990 WPP, led by O&M and JWT, topples Saatchi as the world's biggest ad organization, with $2.7 billion vs. $1.7 billion in gross income.
1991 Tokyo agencies, with $24.5 billion in billings, succeed in supplanting New York, with $24.1 billion, as world ad capital, abetted by favorable yen-to-dollar exchange rate.
1992 New York regains crown as world ad capital.
Compiled by Sarah Polster