M&C Saatchi shares fly as entrepreneur Vin Murria heads towards takeover
M&C Saatchi announced bid interest from its director and biggest shareholder Vin Murria this morning, which could lead to the takeover offer of one of the biggest names in advertising.
Founded in 1995 by brothers and ad moguls Maurice and Charles Saatchi, the firm is still recovering from the 2019 accounting scandal that rocked the agency known for its campaigns for the Conservative Party.
The accounting oversight forced the ad giant to pay a one-off £6.4m exceptional charge after auditors unearthed a shocking ’misapplication of accounting policies’.
The agency footed £11.6m-worth of adjustments to its 2018 and 2019 financial results, and at the peak of this nadir the share price took a thrashing, plummeting nearly 50 per cent.
M&C said Murria, who owns 12.5 per cent of the advertising firm directly and 9.8 per cent via her acquisition vehicle, had not issued a proposal, but told the company to expect one in the near future.
Shares have subsequently rocketed this afternoon, up nearly nine per cent, which adds to its steady incline in recent days as Murria increased her stake: giving M&C a market valuation of more than £240m.
The stock, which has been recovering steadily as the group outperformed market forecasts, has now jumped 20 per cent since the end of 2021 but remains 40 per cent below 2019 levels, according to Reuters.
Adopting a simplification approach, and cutting 20 loss-making subsidiaries, MacLennan alluded to future dividends and M&A activity to Campaign last year.
Murria, the current deputy chair of M&C, joined the company in March 2021 as it recovered from a tough two years, aided by client wins under chief exec Moray MacLennan from Apple, Mars and GSK.
The British businesswoman made her name by founding Advanced Computer Software until it was acquired in 2015. Murria now sits on the board of several other companies.
“The board confirms that the new strategy announced in Q1 2021 is already delivering, with the company’s performance consistently exceeding expectations, demonstrated by a succession of positive trading upgrades,” M&C said in its statement.
M&C produces advertising and content for company’s including Amazon’s Audible and Zipcar, and if the takeover goes ahead, it could herald M&C departure from the London Stock Exchange, in line with recent private equity trends.