By Greg Hazley
Publicis Group has sold its six-year-old stake in U.K. consumer PR giant Freud Communications.
The Paris-based ad/PR conglomerate said April 15 that it will provide clients in the U.K. and globally with PR counsel through its MSLGroup network.
Terms of the deal were not released.
The London Times reported the split in January noting that Publicis’ initial investment in Freud in 2005 valued the firm from £70M-£80M.
The two parties had been negotiating since at least January as Publicis’ initial acquisition deal from 2005 had required the conglomerate to buy Freud’s remaining shares by 2011.
“I enjoyed working with Matthew and I have a lot of respect for his skills. We wish him success in his future endeavors,” said Olivier Fleurot, CEO of MSLGROUP.
Nicola Howson, CEO of Freud, said the firm is “grateful” for Publicis’ support and looks forward to the future as an independently owned company.
Matt Freud is the son-in-law of News Corp. CO Rupert Murdoch.
Twenty-six-year-old Freud Comms. was sold to ad agency Abbott Mead Vickers in 1994, but Freud bought the firm out in 2001 after AMV was acquired by Omnicom.
|