On Thursday, advertising company MSQ Companions revealed that it was not concerned in any potential merger talks with Martin Sorrell-founded advert group S4 Capital.
The corporate, in an announcement supplied to ADWEEK, mentioned, “The board of administrators of MSQ has not been concerned in discussions concerning, or thought of any proposal for, the rumored transaction.”
MSQ famous that there might have been discussions between representatives of One Fairness Companions, its largest shareholder, and S4 Capital.
Within the assertion, it added, “For the avoidance of doubt, neither OEP nor MSQ intend to pursue additional discussions concerning the rumored transaction.”
On Monday, S4 Capital confirmed the rumored merger information between the 2 U.Ok.-based firms, saying in an announcement, “These discussions are at a really preliminary stage, and there will be no certainty {that a} transaction might be forthcoming.”
Information of a possible merger despatched shares of S4 Capital upward, leaping as excessive as 14% in worth, in line with Reuters. This supplied a much-needed increase to its inventory worth, which had fallen by as a lot as 98% from its September 2021 highs, and gave it a market worth of £140 million ($187.7 million).
Sorrell fashioned S4 in Might 2018 and rapidly started buying and merging inventive, information, and companies companies collectively into what’s now a 9,000-person group. Nonetheless, he’s finest identified for constructing WPP right into a inventive behemoth.
This was not the primary time S4 has been linked with a merger or acquisition. In 2023, U.S. advertising group Stagwell approached S4 with a $700 million proposal, which Sorrell rebuffed.
S4 has lower its 2025 income forecast to features within the low single digits resulting from its tech shoppers’ warning, stemming from a weaker world economic system and U.S. tariffs.
