Novo, Giant Step Merging Operations

Privately held e-services companies Novo and Giant Step are in the process of merging their operations, sources close to Novo say.

Novo, based here, is partially owned by Bcom3, while Giant Step, Chicago, is a wholly owned company of Bcom3.

Novo and Giant Step executives were unavailable for comment. A source says the executives were busy meeting with employees and clients while working out the details of the merger.

The new company will be known as Novo and retain a San Francisco headquarters, a source close to Novo says. This week, about 25 percent of the combined company's employees were laid off, the Novo source says. No office closures were reported yet, but a consolidation of Novo and Giant Step offices in New York is expected.

The layoffs leave a combined head count of about 222 employees and a client base that includes Orbitz, Continental Airlines, GM, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Procter & Gamble.

Kelly Rodriquez, chairman and CEO of Novo, will serve as the new company's CEO. Harry Schlough, Novo's president and COO, will serve as COO. Steve Weinswig, president of Giant Step, will serve in a yet-to-be-named executive capacity and report to Schlough, the Novo source says.

Chicago-based Bcom3 is a global advertising and marketing services holding company with more than 520 operating units worldwide. Agency brands under the Bcom3 umbrella include Leo Burnett Worldwide, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, Ayer, and Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

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