WPP-owned GroupM has tapped industry veteran Tim Castree as global CEO of media agency MEC, replacing Charles Courtier who led the agency for 14 years.

After nearly two decades at WPP, Mr. Courtier will step down "to focus on interests outside the company," said WPP media agency network GroupM in a statement. MEC is part of GroupM. Mr. Courtier will remain in the role during a transition through the end of the year, after which he will continue with WPP through June 2017, the company said.

Mr. Castree, who takes the helm in January, will be based in New York, while Mr. Courtier had been based in London. Mr. Castree will report to GroupM's Global CEO, Kelly Clark. He most recently served as managing director of advertising technology company Videology in North America. Before joining Videology, he was chief operating officer for Publicis Groupe's Mediavest.

"Tim is a proven leader who will bring vision and energy to MEC," Mr. Clark said in a statement. "He has a laser focus on clients and what they need to win in today's incredibly complex and competitive market. His broad range of client, agency and geographic experiences will help the MEC team continue to grow."

The change comes after MEC lost its massive AT&T account to a rival Omnicom media agency. It also comes on the heels of Mr. Clark's return as global CEO of GroupM in September.

Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2016 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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