The industry has been watching for the last three weeks to see what Sir Martin Sorrell, the WPP CEO, will do. WPP owns a 22% stake in Tempus, which owns the CIA media-buying company.
WPP is the largest single shareholder in Tempus, ahead of Ingram who owns 16% of the company. Ingram, along with other senior directors, have been pushing the Havas bid and are hostile to a bid by WPP.
There is known to be much enmity between Ingram and Sir Martin, who have traded boardroom barbs several times.
Ingram's departure would be unlikely to trouble Sir Martin. The real prize would be CIA and its management team. It would give WPP a second major media network alongside MindShare and, if successful, WPP would merge it with its smaller media network Media Edge, which WPP acquired when it bought Young & Rubicam last year.
WPP has now had access to the Tempus financial records and has been going over them for the last few weeks. Many are not expecting Sir Martin to make a bid trumping that of Havas.
Havas bid at a 50% premium on Tempus's shares, offering 541p per share. Industry insiders have speculated that WPP would likely bid around 575p, more than double what it paid for its existing shares.
WPP has sat on the sidelines for some time. It bought the majority of its stake four years ago and, earlier this year, brought its holding up to its current position of 22%, sparking speculation that it was set to make a bid.