‘If there were rock stars in the media world, David would definitely be one of them.’ That’s Bruce Claassen’s response to the announcement by Aegis Media Americas late yesterday that CEO David Verklin plans to leave the global agency later this year.

Claassen, CEO of Genesis-Vizeum and chairman of Aegis Media Canada, also tells MiC that he considers Verklin’s successor – Sarah Fay, currently CEO of Carat in the US and Isobar US – ‘very, very, very bright.’

But, he adds, ‘we don’t anticipate any effect whatsoever on Canadian operations. Canada is doing well. We’re about six months into the process of absorbing Aegis’ two acquisitions – my company, Genesis Media, and Mindblossom – and it’s all coming along extremely well.

‘There’s not a major restructuring of Aegis going on,’ Claassen explains. ‘The only change, other than David’s departure, is that Latin America is now being split from ‘the Americas.’ In any case, our main executive contact is Paul Singer, who was basically David’s eyes and ears, and he’s still in place as president of Aegis America.’

Verklin has not publicly announced his future plans, but industry buzz south of the border indicates he’s expected to lead Project Canoe, a group of cable operators that aims to create universal VOD metrics.