Publicis Groupe has issued a statement denying that it had any discussions regarding the takeover of IPG.

That comes follows a report in the Financial Times that the French company was preparing a $15B takeover of IPG, owner of Weber Shandwick and GolinHarris.

IPG soared Friday by 13 percent to close at $10.97 on heavy trading. It released a statement then about being “aware of the activity in our stock today” and that corporate policy is not to “comment on market rumors or speculation.”

Publicis also confirmed that it has “not commissioned any bank” to arrange financing of an IPG takeover.

FT has updated its report with the following: “Apologies, but our usually knowledgeable sources turned out to be lacking on this occasion.”

IPG stock is currently down 10.3 percent to $9.84.

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