Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC Quick QuoteOMC - Free Report) , on Monday, announced that it will acquire Berlin-based advertising agency, antoni, for an undisclosed amount. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

Founded in 2015 exclusively for Mercedes-Benz, antoni now has expanded its services to brands such as bett1.de, Vodafone, Kärcher and Katjes. Currently employing more than 170 professionals, antoni is considered one of Europe’s most creative and innovative advertising agencies.

antoni was founded in 2015 by Tonio Kröger, managing director and CEO, and André Kemper, managing director and chief creative officer. Both will retain their current roles post the acquisition.

Buyout Will Support Omnicom-Mercedes Partnership

The acquisition is aimed at placing antoni in a pivotal role in Omnicom’s partnership with Mercedes-Benz to develop Team X, a tailormade and data-driven global agency solution with expertise across the full range of Mercedes' Communications and Marketing activities.

Recently, Mercedes-Benz has fused its communication and marketing departments, and is consolidating its global marketing communication scope with Omnicom’s Team X. The new agency unit will start operations from January 2022, and will have cross-divisional responsibility for Mercedes-Benz’s business units in more than 40 markets globally.

Over the past year, Omnicom’s shares have gained 42.5%, underperforming the 56.1% growth of the industry it belongs to, but outperforming the 33.1% growth of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Omnicom currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are ManpowerGroup (MAN Quick QuoteMAN - Free Report) , Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN Quick QuoteCCRN - Free Report)  and Genpact (G Quick QuoteG - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for ManpowerGroup, Cross Country Healthcare and Genpact is pegged at 24.2%, 9.9% and 14.7%, respectively.