Cordiant has previously confirmed that it is in talks about selling off its Australian operations, including the second-largest advertising agency in the country, George Patterson Bates. However, reports in the Sunday Telegraph said that Cordiant was to break up entirely, selling off assets including its advertising agency network Bates Worldwide.
The story said that there was a meeting of board directors on Thursday to discuss the plans, which the company hoped would help it deal with 拢200m-plus in debt.
However, Reuters reports this morning that a source in the company denies that the board is to break up the firm.
Cordiant is already thought to be in the process of disposing of a number of its assets.
The future of Cordiant's financial public relations arm FD International remains in the balance, with ongoing talk of a management buyout at the business. There is also speculation that Cordiant will sell the European advertising network Scholz & Friends, with WPP Group interested in acquiring it. The company also has received approaches for Healthworld, the healthcare marketing practice.
As far as Cordiant's Australian sell-off goes, while the company has confirmed it is in talks with a private equity company called Pacific Equity Partners, with which Cordiant CEO David Hearn has previous links, another company has thrown its hat into the ring.
The Australian Financial Review reports today that Issues & Images Group, an advertising and marketing services holding company, has launched a formal bid for Cordiant Australia, but that the bid is worth around 拢24m, compared with Pacific Equity's bid of around 拢44m.
Cordiant has suffered more than most of the large holding companies from the advertising recession, hit by the loss of numerous accounts as well as by the fall in spend by remaining clients.
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