NEW YORK: The world's biggest advertiser Procter & Gamble Co. on Friday announced a sweeping realignment of its $3.77 billion global agency roster that will end its decades-old relationship with Havas' Arnold McGrath Worldwide.

P&G said it would be consolidating its business with Grey Global and Publicis Groupe and redistributes assignments of soon-to-be-shuttered D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, mainly within Publicis.

The move by the consumer giant, whose brands include Tide laundry detergent, Bounty paper towels and Pampers diapers, was prompted by Publicis' decision to shutter its struggling D'Arcy Massius Benton & Bowles agency earlier this year, reports say.

Publicis Worldwide will pick up two of P&G's billion-dollar global tissue-towel brands, Bounty paper towels from Arnold McGrath and Charmin toilet paper from D'Arcy. It will also get Puffs facial tissues and Tempo dry wipes from D'Arcy, adageglobal.com has reported. Publicis' Leo Burnett picks up Arnold's Era account, which joins the Cheer and Gain brands already handled by the agency's Toronto office. Overseas, Burnett also picks up the Fairy laundry detergent brand from D'Arcy.

Grey Global gets the rest of Arnold McGrath's P&G business, including the global Zest personal wash account and Ace detergent in Europe. (Grey loses the Camay brand in Latin America to Burnett; Grey previously handled Ace bleach and sibling brands in Latin America.) Grey also picks up from D'Arcy Torengos tortilla chips, which, along with Pringles, will give it all of P&G's snack business.

P&G, which spent $3.77 billion globally on advertising in the fiscal year ended in June, is the biggest client for both Paris-based Publicis and New York-based Grey Global, Reuters has reported. P&G's 2001 US measured ad spending was $1.7 billion, according to CMR.