WPP moves up as Havas waits

LONDON - As the London markets closed this afternoon, shares in WPP Group rose more than 5% as French group Havas failed to respond to the UK company's counter-bid for media-buying firm Tempus.

WPP was up 5.2% as London closed at 4.30pm to 701.5p while Havas was down fractionally on yesterday at 654p.



There was little movement on Tempus's share price, which was up 0.3% to 583p. Tempus stock closed last night at 581.5p.



Earlier today, there were reports that Tempus, which owns the media-buying group CIA, had sacked as many as 6% of its staff, or around 120, since the bidding war broke out in mid July.



However, there was no confirmation of this at time of writing.



Unconfirmed reports, which were later withdrawn, were circulating on news wires earlier today, suggesting that Havas would not attempt to beat WPP's Monday bid of 555p a share.



Havas has since denied this and said that its offer of 541p stands and has been extended until September 3.



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Gordon MacMillan, recommends

WPP Group

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