CANNES — It’s the Cannes version of Camp David.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman was set to play Madison Avenue peacemaker at the Chateau la Napoule on Thursday night as part of the Cannes Lions ad confab.
Slated to be among his guests were the heads of the biggest ad firms: Omnicom’s John Wren, Publicis Groupe’s Maurice Levy, WPP’s Martin Sorrell and IPG’s Michael Roth.
The powwow is believed to be the first time that Wren and Levy have broken bread since abandoning a deal to combine their firms, which would have created the largest ad company in the world.
“It says something about the two men that they both thought they could overcome the other,” one source told The Post.
Since the merger was derailed by legal and tax issues as well as clashing personalities, there’s been tons of speculation that smaller IPG is now a prime takeover target.
Indeed, sources predict IPG will follow one of two paths — be taken over by an activist investor or acquired by Japan’s Dentsu.
Either way, IPG CEO Michael Roth has said he’s all ears if someone wants to give him a call.