With the acquisition of at least two major accounts - GM and Wal-Mart - Carat has soared nearly to the top of the media network heap, coming in second only to Starcom MediaVest Group.

Starcom MediaVest and Carat share some giant clients, such as Proctor & Gamble and GM, but Carat's win of GM's European media account and Wal-Mart's U.S. media account has catapulted the group ahead of OMD and MindShare, writes MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner).

According to Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Aegis Media's EMEA operations, the network is only "a whisker away from being No. 1." He added that because the data was only available through October, the top spot could be in reach by the end of the year.

Starcom's MediaVest surpassed OMD globally as the top media shop earlier this year.