Huijboom will be responsible for identifying revenue synergies between Aegis Group and Dentsu, ahead of the completion of the latter’s £3.2bn takeover bid, currently scheduled for February.

He rejoins the Aegis board after spells as CEO western Europe, CEO global client relationships and CEO clients and industries at Synovate, before Aegis sold it to Ipsos SA for £525m in October 2011. At Ipsos, he was CEO geographies at Synovate.

Buhlmann said: “The combination of Aegis and Dentsu will bring together two world-class businesses with aligned strategies and complementary client, geographic and product portfolios. We knew of Peter’s strong track record in both client relationships and operational leadership from his time at Synovate so I am delighted to welcome Peter back to Aegis at such an important time. I am confident Peter will make a strong contribution to realising the synergies and benefits of the combination of Aegis and Dentsu.”

Huijboom added: “I am delighted to be coming back to Aegis, at this tremendously exciting time of integration with Dentsu and convergence in media. I will be fully focused on maximising the significant market opportunities for our clients that the enlarged group will bring, and working closely with our people, new colleagues at Dentsu and the Global Executive to ensure our clients’ business needs remain at the heart of everything we do.”

Dentsu’s £3.2bn takeover of Aegis is unlikely to be completed until February owing to the slow process of Chinese regulators examining the deal, which includes the Aztec scan-data business and the Aevolve marketing effectiveness company.