- Grey Advertising is to acquire The Media Business Group little more than a month after takeover talks between the two were called off.
Grey's media arm, MediaCom, will merge its UK operation with TMBG to create the third-largest media company in the UK. The new company will have total billings of £330 million ($550 million), according to figures from Media Monitoring Services. It will operate under the name of MediaCom/TMBG.
Allan Rich, TMBG chairman and chief executive, will become chairman and CEO while Andy Troullides, managing director of MediaCom, and Stephen Allan, group managing director of TMBG, will become co-managing directors.
Rich said: "Alignment with a global media network of MediaCom's calibre provides access to the kind of top-flight worldwide resources that we knew were key to accelerating our growth in the UK. The Merger will enhance our negotiating power and our investment in key areas, such as research, that add value to the services we provide our clients."
The two had been talking for seven months when discussions came to a halt in early October. At the time, the breakdown in negotiations was blamed on large falls in the equity markets worldwide.
TMBG's share price jumped 36 per cent up from 76.5p to 104.5p on the news.
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