Although rumors abound that DMB&B Canada will, at any moment, acquire a Canadian agency with which to merge, Norm Sherman, executive vice-president of dmb&b New York and interim chairman and ceo of the Toronto office, is declining to name names.

‘I feel every agency in Toronto will be named until somebody by magic will mention the right one, and I will blink and give it away,’ says Sherman.

Speculation about a possible acquisition and merger has heated up following the recent move of Martin Kingston, dmb&b’s senior vice-president and co-general manager, to Young & Rubicam as senior vice-president and account managing director with primary responsibility for AT&T Canada.

Kingston joined dmb&b in June 1995 after leaving Ambrose Carr Linton Kelly (now Ambrose Carr Linton Carroll) where he had been president for two-and-a-half years.

Sherman says Kingston made the decision to go on his own and it was separate from any discussions dmb&b is having with anyone or any agency.

Sherman has been searching for someone to head the Toronto agency since February of last year, when Chairman and ceo Raj Marwah left.

Sherman has said that his preference is for a Canadian to lead the agency, but if a suitable candidate were not found, he would acquire an agency to merge with dmb&b.

Since then, virtually every independent Canadian agency has been rumored as the takeover target.

One of the more persistent rumors was a merger with Gee Jeffery & Partners. Sherman dismisses the idea, saying Gee Jeffery’s top three clients are direct conflicts with dmb&b accounts.