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| Mark Penn |
Stagwell Group, a holding company formed by Mark Penn in 2015, has proposed merging with MDC Partners to create a $2B ad/PR combine.
Penn, who chairs and owns a 30 percent MDC stake, said a deal would result in $35M in cost synergies and offer "best-in-class combination of insights, creative, digital and performance."
Stagwell's $4.25 per-share offer represents a 263 percent premium to MDC's June 24 closing stock price of $1.17
MDC has formed a special committee of the board to evaluate Stagwell's officer. “We are committed to maximizing shareholder value and, if it makes sense to proceed, we will do so in a thoughtful and diligent manner," said Irwin Smith, lead independent director of the company.
MDC recorded a 0.3 percent dip in first-quarter revenues to $327.7M and a $2.4M loss.
Its PR units include Allison + Partners, KWT Global and Hunter.
Stagwell's PR properties are Finn Partners, SKDKnickerbocker, Sloane & Co. and Wye Communications.
Public Policy Holding Company registered 23.8 percent Q3 growth to $48.8M, with organic growth contributing 4.5 percent and the balance driven by merger & acquisition activity.
Publicis Groupe reported 3.1 percent in Q3 growth to $4B, sparked by a 3.6 percent jump North America, its biggest market.
WPP suffered a 10.2 percent drop in 1H revenues to $6.7B and a 47.8 percent plunge in operating profit to $297M.
Interpublic reported Q2 net revenues dropped 6.6 percent to $2.2B and operating income tumbled 23.4 percent to $243.7M. 
WPP has adopted a gloomier profit and sales forecast due to a deteriorating Q2 financial performance triggered by weak client spending as companies cope with the challenging economic backdrop.
