Chime Communications board gives thumbs up to £374m WPP and Providence takeover bid July 31, 2015 Chime Communications' directors have unanimously recommended a £374m takeover from Providence Equity Partners and WPP to shareholders Read more: Chime shares soar on £350m WPP takeover talk The takeover offer entitles shareholders to 365p per Chime share and an interim dividend for the current year of 2.53p per share. Chime's specialist sports marketing businesses appear to [...]
Advertising tech giant AppNexus preparing to go public next year July 6, 2015 Pioneering advertising technology firm AppNexus is preparing to float on the stock market, in a move worth around $2bn (£1.27bn). Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP advertising empire is a major shareholder in the firm, with a 15 per cent stake and a board seat. AppNexus is thought to be updating its practices to pave the way [...]
Martin Sorrell’s WPP heads to Cuba as part of Latin American expansion plan July 2, 2015 Communications giant WPP is about to set up shop in communist-led Cuba – an unprecedented step among the world's major advertising agencies. Read more: Cuba woos US banks as sanctions ease The company, set up by Sir Martin Sorrell in 1971, has partnered with state-owned Palco Group to make the move, which marks the [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell on Heathrow expansion: Back it and get building – the government must move quickly on third runway July 1, 2015 After nearly three years spent carefully examining the evidence, the Airports Commission published its Final Report yesterday. Its definitive view, following what has been a long and robust process, is that London needs one new runway, and that the best option is to expand Heathrow. We believe that we need airport expansion, and that the [...]
Truffle Pig: WPP, Daily Mail and Snapchat just formed an ad agency to create social content June 23, 2015 The world's biggest advertising group, WPP, the world's biggest online publisher, the Daily Mail, and startup sweetheart Snapchat have formed the media equivalent of a musical supergroup to get adverts in front of eyeballs. The trio have launched an ambitious new venture forging together the world of technology, advertising and publishing with the creation of [...]
Google could make joint bid for Tesco customer data unit Dunnhumby June 18, 2015 Google could soon be partnering with private equity fund Permira to make a joint bid for Tesco’s customer data business. The two firms are in talks to make a bid for Tesco’s data wing, Dunnhumby, which gathers and analyses data from about 1bn shoppers across the world, according to reports from Sky News and Reuters last [...]
Grey swans turning white and artificial intelligence: These are the five best bits from Sir Martin Sorrell’s update June 9, 2015 Ahead of WPP's AGM today – in which Sir Martin Sorrell's pay packet was contested, but not thrown out – the advertising giant released its annual statement. As with previous years it was packed full with words of wisdom from Sorrell, looking at macro, political and social pressures as well as what was happening [...]
WPP shareholders revolt against Sir Martin Sorrell’s £43m pay (but not as many as last year) June 9, 2015 More than a fifth of WPP shareholders have refused to back Sir Martin Sorrell's £43m pay package – but that is less than this time last year. At today's AGM 19.5 per cent of investors in the marketing and advertising giant voted against Sorrell's pay, while 2.7 per cent absented. While that means [...]
WPP gets stake in Turkish digital media firm Wanda as lira takes a fall June 8, 2015 Advertising giant WPP’s subsidiary firm J Walter Thompson has acquired a minority stake in Turkish digital agency Wanda Digital. The move comes at a fraught time in the Turkish domestic market. Yesterday the Turkish lira fell five per cent to an all time low against the US dollar, on the back of the country’s [...]
How long would it take you to earn WPP boss Martin Sorrell’s annual pay? June 8, 2015 The FTSE's best-paid boss will this week come face-to-face with shareholders over the size of his pay packet. Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief of advertising group WPP, is pocketing a hefty – and some may say excessive – £43m. It's a 44 per cent rise on how much he took home the previous year, and [...]