Murria raises bid for M&C but is rebuffed again
Tech tycoon Vin Murria has upped her bid for the listed advertising giant M&C Saatchi but is reportedly still facing a wave of pushback from M&C shareholders.
Murria’s AvancedAdvT vehicle, which is already the biggest shareholder in M&C, raised its offer to 230p a share in a move that value teh advertising agency at £281m, the Evening Standard first reported.
The offer has been tabled in either AadvT shares or a mixture of shares and cash, and raises the previous offer worth either 200p a share or 220p depending on the cash/equity mix.
M&C shareholders have rebuffed the new offer however, on the grounds that it still undervalues the business, but they are reportedly still open to further discussion.
Some shareholders have also questioned her knowledge of the sector and intention to urn the firm into more of a digital agency.
Founding director David Kershaw, still a shareholder in the firm, recently told the Telegraph: “If you turn it into a tech shop, then you throw away the whole heritage, culture and brand of supreme creativity, which is what Saatchi stands for.”
He added: “Bad advertising, brilliantly and accurately served through digital tech, is still rubbish – it’s just better targeted rubbish.”
Murria was reportedly keen to keep the M&C management team in place after a successful bid, but the plans were scuppered after CFO Mickey Kalifa recently left the firm for a digital startup.
M&C said: “The Independent Directors believe that it is in the best interests of all stakeholders in M&C Saatchi to continue to engage constructively in discussions with AdvT.”