M&C Saatchi agrees £310m takeover by Next Fifteen just days after snubbing Vin Murria
Just days after M&C Saatchi snubbed Vin Murria’s hostile takeover, the ad giant has announced a £310m takeover by fellow advertising agency Next Fifteen.
Gareth Davis, Chairman of M&C Saatchi, said in a statement this morning: “The M&C Saatchi Independent Directors all consider Next Fifteen’s offer to be far superior to the offer announced earlier this week by ADV”.
This “far superior” offer has also sent shares flying over 35 per cent this morning on the London market.
Earlier this week Murria’s investment vehicle AdvanceADVT tabled two options to investors that would allow them to choose to receive either a combination of cash and shares, or an all share offer of 2.530 new shares for each M&C shares.
Both options valued the firm at 207.5p per share, representing a 27 per cent premium to the company’s closing price on Monday.
M&C batted away this offer, asserting that it had “undervalued” the company and didn’t take into account the future growth of the company.
In contrast, Next Fifteen’s offer represents a 19.1 per cent premium on Murria’s All Share Offer of 2.530 ADV Shares per M&C Saatchi Share.
It also represents a premium of 49.8 per cent to the Closing Price of 165p per M&C Saatchi Share yesterday evening.
Under the new deal agreed with Next Fifteen, M&C Saatchi shareholders will be entitled to 40p in cash and 0.1637 of a New Next 15 Share for each M&C Saatchi share, valuing M&C Saatchi at approximately £310.1m.
Next Fifteen is an AIM-listed tech and data-driven growth consultancy, with presence across Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific.
Clients include Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, American Express and Procter & Gamble.
The Company employs over 3,600 people and has a market cap of £1.28bn.