The bombshell was dropped following a pitch in April involving three agencies: MindShare, IM and Carat United.
IM eventually emerged victorious, however, it had help from the inhouse media staff of two IPG siblings - FCB and Lowe. The change takes effect from the beginning of July.
The choice of IM as Unilever's media agency of record did not surprise industry observers.
The agency, which is still growing its presence in Asia, has extensive operations in the US and Europe and it serves Unilever in 45 countries around the world.
There was no change in the creative line-up as the review focused solely on media planning and buying.
The loss of the account has dealt a blow to MindShare. But by sheer coincidence, plans had been underway for some time for the agency to move into new office premises with WPP sister agencies Maximize and Media Plus Communications.
The move is believed to have been part of a regionwide cost-cutting in response to the economic slump.
