The three-way merger: Hakuhodo, Daiko and Yomiko under one holding company (2002)

How narrow the merged part was

What the three companies put in was only the procurement of advertising space and the development of media. The sales side that faces the advertiser, and the creative side that makes the work, were left with each company. It is a division that preserves the convention of the advertising trade — that one agency does not handle advertisers competing in the same industry — while pooling nothing but bargaining power against the media owners. Given how the business actually works the reasoning holds, but the scope for rationalization available from it was limited from the beginning, and that point was made immediately after the announcement.

Even so, with everyone below the leader unable to close the distance to Dentsu alone, the three had few moves to choose from. After the merger Hakuhodo DY Holdings exceeded its target of ¥1.1 trillion in revenue for fiscal 2005 and listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in February 2005. A merger described as defensive did at least achieve the immediate objectives it had named — the number and the listing. And in April 2025 the media functions carved out of the three companies were returned to Hakuhodo by absorption-type split.