It was trading at 96.75p this afternoon, after closing at 94p yesterday. ABN Amro said in a trading note that Aegis was "highly geared into any cyclical recovery and should play a part in any further consolidation within the sector".
Aegis owns the Carat media-buying network, which was announced this week as the big winner in the £280m Hyundai media-buying review in North America. A possible takeover bid could come from French group Havas Advertising, which failed to buy the CIA media-buying network when it lost the battle for Tempus to WPP Group last year.
Havas is also seen as a possible buyer for Cordiant, as a tie-up between Publicis Groupe and Cordiant looks increasingly unlikely despite the two jointly owning media-planning and buying group Zenith Optimedia.
Other advertising stocks were steady. Cordiant, which saw its price collapse after it lost the Hyundai account on Monday, remained at 81p today, after recovering some 6% on Thursday. Its share price closed at 75p on Wednesday, amid calls for CEO Michael Bungey to resign from the troubled company.
WPP Group was up 1.2% to 698p, with the market on the rise overall, following the lead from Wall Street yesterday and a rise in oil and pharmaceutical stocks in London today.
Broadcasting companies Granada and Carlton Communications were both on the up, with Carlton regaining 2.2% of its price, after seeing 5.65% wiped off yesterday. This afternoon, they were trading at 206.5p, with Granada up 3.64% at 224p.
Huntsworth, which released an upbeat trading statement this morning, was priced at 23.5p, an increase of 6% on yesterday's price.
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