The proposal to put the company up for sale was submitted by Charles Miller, but it was rejected by 87% of shareholders. Only 3% were in favour of the move, which the activists said was in response to the company's "dismal performance".
The board of Interpublic were opposed to the move and had attempted to block the proposal even from being considered.
The company has been struggling with an accounting scandal and investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission that forced it to delay filing its 2004 results, as well as those for the first half of 2005. In September, it revealed that restatements of its accounts over the past five years would cost it more than half a billion dollars.
Last week, it reported a third-quarter operating loss of $96.8m (拢55.7m). Major client losses including General Motors and L'Oreal, worth almost $2bn in combined billings, were blamed for its depressing performance, which saw organic revenue decline by 2.6%.
At that time, Michael Roth, the IPG chairman and chief executive, held out little prospect of a rapid turnaround in fortunes.
"Client losses that took place during the past 12 months will continue to affect our comparative results over the next few quarters," he said.
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