After Aegis requested a put-up-or-shut-up order from the Takeover Panel, WPP and venture capitalists Hellman & Friedman were given until midday on November 25 to make their intentions clear for the company.
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, it is now expected that WPP will not make an offer for Aegis, but that it will ask the Takeover Panel for the right to re-enter negotiations should a second bidder for Aegis emerge.
Aegis' share price fell this morning as the takeover talk cooled off, down 2.9% to 117.5p, a fall of 3.5p.
Last week, it was reported that WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell were looking to make a joint bid with Vincent Bollore, the French businessman and chairman of Havas. Such a deal would have seen WPP take control of the market research arm of Aegis, Synovate, with a separate holding company being set up to run the media buying networks Carat and Vizeum, along with digital network Isobar.
That holding company would have been controlled by Bollore, with Hellman & Friedman holding the next largest stake and WPP as the junior partner.
While analysts have long tipped further consolidation in the media industry, it was not until August this year that Aegis became the subject of intense bid scrutiny, when Bollore began buying stock in the company.
This lead to speculation of a potential merger between Havas and Aegis. But in September, it was revealed that rival French advertising holding company Publicis Groupe had made a €1.56bn bid for Aegis.
By the the beginning of October, it was revealed that WPP and its private equity partner Hellman & Friedman had also asked for a look at Aegis' books.
By October 17, Publicis had withdrawn its bid over concerns it would burden the company with too much debt. The issue of Bollore's growing stake was also thought to be an issue.
At the same as having two declared suitors, Bollore has continued to buy up stock in Aegis, now owning almost 25% of the company and claiming his place as its biggest shareholder.
Even if WPP and Hellman & Friedman do declare themselves not interested in making a bid, the Havas chairman has yet to outline his plans for the company -- meaning further instability for Aegis' senior management. It is thought that the Takeover Panel may rule that Bollore is not a concert party to WPP and Hellman & Friedman, which would leave him free to make a seperate bid for Aegis.
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