On January 27, 2021, Epsilon Data Management LLC was ordered to pay the sum of USD 150 million (a penalty of USD 22.5 million and compensation of USD 127.5 million) as part of an investigation by the Department of Justice in the United States. The risk identified at the time of the acquisition of Epsilon was covered in the sale agreement entered into with Alliance Data Systems Corporation (ADS) by an indemnification clause under which ADS undertook to indemnify Publicis for all financial consequences related to this investigation. As of December 31, 2020, other creditors and current liabilities included a debt of euro 132 million (USD 150 million) to meet this obligation. A receivable of the same amount corresponding to the compensation to be received from ADS is presented in other current receivables and current assets.
The fees paid by the Groupe for each of the statutory auditors of Publicis Groupe SA for the 2020 and 2019 financial years were:
| Ernst & Young | Mazars | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amount (excl. taxes) | % | Amount (excl. taxes) | % | Amount (excl. taxes) | % | |||||||
(in millions of euros) | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 |
Statutory auditors | Statutory auditors Ernst & Young
| Statutory auditors Mazars
| Statutory auditors Total
| |||||||||
Publicis Groupe SA (parent company) | Publicis Groupe SA (parent company) Ernst & Young 0.7 | Publicis Groupe SA (parent company) Mazars 0.8 | Publicis Groupe SA (parent company) Total 12% | 12% | 0.4 | 0.4 | 9% | 9% | 1.1 | 1.2 | 11% | 11% |
Account certification | Account certification Ernst & Young 0.7 | Account certification Mazars 0.7 | Account certification Total
| 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | |||||
Other services | Other services Ernst & Young 0.0 | Other services Mazars 0.1 | Other services Total
| 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | |||||
Subsidiaries | Subsidiaries Ernst & Young 0,2 | Subsidiaries Mazars 0.3 | Subsidiaries Total 4 % | 4 % | 0.5 | 0.6 | 12% | 14% | 0.8 | 0.9 | 7% | 8% |
Account certification | Account certification Ernst & Young 0.2 | Account certification Mazars 0.2 | Account certification Total
| 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | |||||
Other services | Other services Ernst & Young 0.0 | Other services Mazars 0.0 | Other services Total
| 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
Subtotal | Subtotal Ernst & Young 0.9 | Subtotal Mazars 1.1 | Subtotal Total 16% | 16% | 0,9 | 1.0 | 21% | 23% | 1.9 | 2.1 | 18% | 19% |
Network | Network Ernst & Young
| Network Mazars
| Network Total
| |||||||||
Account certification | Account certification Ernst & Young 4.5 | Account certification Mazars 4.3 | Account certification Total 76% | 64% | 3.4 | 3.2 | 77% | 75% | 7.9 | 7.5 | 77% | 68% |
Other services | Other services Ernst & Young 0.5 | Other services Mazars 1.3 | Other services Total 8% | 20% | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2% | 2% | 0.6 | 1.4 | 5% | 13% |
Subtotal | Subtotal Ernst & Young 5.0 | Subtotal Mazars 5.6 | Subtotal Total 84% | 84% | 3.5 | 3.3 | 79% | 77% | 8.5 | 8.9 | 82% | 81% |
Total | Total Ernst & Young 6.0 | Total Mazars 6.7 | Total Total 100% | 100% | 4.4 | 4.3 | 100% | 100% | 10.4 | 11.0 | 100% | 100% |
