Advertising giant WPP is to name Mark Read as its new chief executive, replacing founder, Sir Martin Sorrell.
WPP has declined to comment on Sorrell’s replacement but said an announcement would be made in September.
“We will not be drawn on the timing of the naming of our next chief executive, nor on who that may be,” a spokesperson for the group said.
“As soon as there is an agreement with a candidate we will be obliged to make an announcement to the stock exchange.”
The group is likely to reveal the news when it also reveals its half-year results. The news was first reported by the Financial Times.
Read will take on the role at a difficult time for the group. The company issued several growth warnings last year and reported its worst financial year since 2009.
“The major factors influencing [WPP’s] performance were probably the long-term impact of technological disruption and more the short-term focus of zero-based budgeters, activist investors and private equity,” said Sorrell at the time of results.
The group said that it needs “continued emphasis on balancing revenue growth with headcount increases and improvement in staff costs.”
The firm is facing competition from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) as advertising is increasingly carried out online.
Following Sorrell’s departure, Read said: “Martin was a hard-working and hard-driving chief executive. I don’t recognise … the bullying nature of some of the allegations.”
“Can one man run the company? Nobody can run it like he did,” he added.
Shares in the advertising giant (LON: WPP) are up 0.78 percent at 1.288,00 (0953GMT).