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WPP has rejected an offer by KKR to take a controlling stake in FGS Global, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The British ad/PR conglomerate sold a 30 percent stake in the strategic communications and advisory shop to the private equity giant last year.
It owns a 55 percent stake in FGS while the PR firm's partners & employees hold the remaining shares.
WPP nixed the KKR offer because it was too low. KKR may make a higher offer for FGS, which WPP’s board would have to consider due to its fiduciary responsibility.
The FT noted that WPP suffers from a conglomerate discount, where its $10B market valuation is worth less than the sum of its parts, which include the newly formed Burson mash-up of Hill & Knowlton and BCW. KKR’s 30 percent stake in FGS is worth about $1.4B.
WPP, KKR and FGS management plan to take the PR firm public during the next two years.
WPP chief Cindy Rose is cutting up to 1,000 jobs by the end of the year, adding to the 11K jobs lost since the start of 2025, according to a report in the Financial Times.
WPP CEO Cindy Rose declares her stabilization plan is "firmly on track" as the company reports a 4.7 percent dip in 1H revenues.
FTI Consulting reported a 2.6 percent drop in Q2 strategic communications revenues to $100M, a shortfall largely due to a $7.4M decline in pass-through revenues.
Omnicom CEO John Wren reported a 7.2 percent rise in Q2 “core operations” to $6B and a 6.1 percent spurt on an organic basis.
Publicis Groupe’s H1 net revenues inched ahead by 1.1 percent to $8.3B. Organic growth hit the 4.7 percent mark.
