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WPP Bid for Interpublic Very Unlikely, Analysts Say 2013-11-15 08:35:39.479 GMT
By Blanche Gatt Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- WPP little changed in thin vol. in early trade following a Daily Mail report it may bid $25-share for Interpublic. * Interpublic closed at $17.28 in New York * Liberum says a WPP cash bid for Interpublic as mentioned in Daily Mail report is “very unlikely.” * Says Interpublic weak in digital, faster-growing mkts, which are WPP’s target growth areas * Interpublic has various decade-old “legacy issues” that constrain its scope to expand margins * WPP CEO Martin Sorrell has criticised Publicis/Omnicom merger partly because of scale: Liberum * Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Conor O’Shea says in e-mailed comment mooted bid “unlikely given Martin Sorrell’s comments on the Publicis/Omnicom deal” * NOTE: At Goldman conference in Sept., WPP’s Sorrell said unlikely to acquire Interpublic or Havas in near term, plans to spend ~ $500m-$1b annually on M&A * WPP had GBP1.94b in cash, mkt cap GBP18b vs Interpublic mkt cap $7.5b: Bloomberg data For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>
--Editor: Gaurav Panchal
To contact the reporter on this story: Blanche Gatt in London at +44-20-7392-0351 or bgatt@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or jludden@bloomberg.net