Well, it looks like Mike McGraw beat us to the punch by a few hours as he’s updated his LinkedIn to reflect what we’ve been hearing since last night, that the aforementioned COO/managing partner of Big Fuel has indeed left the Publicis Groupe-owned agency. McGraw’s departure comes barely three months after CEO Jon Bond split from the social media-focused Big Fuel, which we believe currently works with clients including T-Mobile, Starwood, Chase, Clorox, Budweiser and J&J.

McGraw, whose headshot still appears on Big Fuel’s leadership page, spent nearly six years at the agency but has now split to consult with and invest in new start ups in the social/digital space. Well, we’ll always have his brief cameo in Big Fuel’s self-promo from 2011 (below) as a “formerly disconnected” guy to remember him by.

The talks reported by AdAge last week are over and now, Publicis Groupe continues its acquisition spree with the news that it’s immediately taken a 51 percent stake in New York-based infomercial makers Big Fuel, which of course is GM and now T-Mobile’s social media AOR.

With the move, Big Fuel will now be housed within Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi unit to serve as a social media hub/resource for fellow VivaKi shops Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia. Big Fuel CEO Jon Bond, who will remain on board along with cohorts Avi Savar (founder/CCO) and COO/managing partner Mike McGraw, says of the deal, “”Now that social is revolutionizing global marketing, this partnership gives the agency and its clients scale, impact, and a network around the world.”

According to agency figures, Big Fuel has grown from 30 to 170 employees in 18 months. Its new parent, Publicis Groupe, will have the opportunity to increase its stake in BF to 100 percent in 2014.