 Martin Sorrell |
WPP boss Martin Sorrell hiked the pressure on 25 percent-owned Asatsu-DK by rejecting to tender its shares to Bain Capital and threatening to increase his firm's stake to the 33 percent mark.
He has maintained that Bain’s offer undervalues ADK’s assets and future opportunities.
The ad/PR combine claims it has been approached by other stakeholders, include ADK investors and management, to “clarify our commitment to ADK” in the event Bain’s $1.3B bid for the Japanese ad agency collapses.
WPP stands ready to “engage constructively with the board of ADK it the tender offer fails, to help ensure ADK has the talent and focus on digital and animation capability needed to increase the value of ADK for the benefit of all long-term stakeholders,” according to its statement.
ADK calls Bain’s offer “the most credible proposal, and one that would offer the most price maximization for shareholders.”
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.
