1983 Boase Massimi Pollitt goes one better by seeking a full Stock Exchange listing, joining Saatchi & Saatchi and Geers Gross as quoted UK agencies. It famously fought off a hostile takeover attempt by France's BDDP. As DDB London, the agency is now owned by Omnicom.
1984 Lowe Howard-Spink Campbell-Ewald, then the UK's 16th-largest agency, goes for a full listing through an offer for sale of around 30% of its shares. Subsequently acquired by Interpublic, which merged it with Ammirati Puris Lintas.
1985 Davidson Pearce, then ranked the seventh-largest UK agency, floats. One-third of its shares are offered for sale, valuing the group at about £18m. Agency later subsumed into BMP.
1985 Abbott Mead Vickers becomes a public company, offering 3.66m shares at 180p each. The sale of 29% of its equity raises £6.6m and is over-subscribed 30 times by would-be investors. Six years later, AMV merges with BBDO under the Omnicom umbrella.
1985 Yellowhammer joins the USM, generating almost £3m. Jon Summerill, its chairman, pockets £1.95m but declares: "I don't feel guilty." The agency is later rescued by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.
1986 Gold Greenlees Trott joins the Stock Market through an offer for sale of 34.6% of its issue capital. Three million shares at 165p each are realised, capitalising the agency at £14.3m. Later the loss of its Procter & Gamble business wipes 40% off its share value and Omnicom buys it for $235m.
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