Publicis Groupe shares rose after press reports that PepsiCo shifted its global media account to the French advertising company from U.S. rival Omnicom Group.

Shares in Publicis climbed as much as 4.2% in European morning trading Thursday, taking their year-to-date gain above 16%. Omnicom shares closed 5% lower in the U.S. on Wednesday.

The U.S. soda-and-snack group chose Publicis to build a new media model supported by artificial intelligence and data, according to reports by several ad-industry publications.

PepsiCo and Omnicom didn't respond to requests for comment. Publicis declined to comment.