Shares in WPP have risen sharply amid speculation that the advertising group could be the subject of a takeover by a rival or a private equity buyer.
Its French rival Havas, which was listed on Euronext in Amsterdam in December and is controlled by the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, has reportedly held internal talks about a potential bid as WPP’s share price languishes at levels not seen since the mid-1990s.
The company’s shares rose as much as 6% on Monday, making it the biggest riser on the FTSE, after the Sunday Times report, which also suggested private equity groups Apollo and KKR had held internal discussions about certain WPP assets.
However, Apollo has ruled out making a bid. KKR, which last year acquired WPP’s PR operation FGS Global, declined to comment.
Havas, the smallest of the global advertising holding companies, has previously hoped to build scale, particularly in relation to its media buying and selling capability.
Over a number of years Bolloré built up a stake in the UK media buying firm Aegis, and attempted to get seats on the board, but the Japanese advertising group Dentsu paid £3.2bn to buy the company in 2012.
One source suggested Havas could look to follow a similar strategy with WPP, building a stake before demanding a board seat.
Havas declined to comment.
WPP, which has issued a string of profit warnings amid a client exodus and is struggling to compete with the artificial intelligence and data capabilities of its rivals, is now valued at about £3bn.
The business’s market capitalisation has fallen by more than 80% over the past eight years – it was valued at £25bn in 2017 – which has left WPP at risk of falling out of the FTSE 100 index it joined almost three decades ago.
Last month, Cindy Rose, the newly installed WPP chief executive, launched a review of the business after reporting a fresh profit warning.
Earlier this year Accenture, the US consultancy group that has built up a large advertising business, reportedly held talks with WPP over a potential deal or partnership.
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WPP Media, which manages more than $60bn (£46bn) of global media investment in campaigns for clients, is considered by analysts to be the most valuable part of WPP.
The division has been the revenue and profit driver as other operations such as WPP’s creative agencies have struggled. It is considered to be worth more than the approximate £7.5bn enterprise value of WPP, which includes its debt.
France’s Publicis Groupe, which took WPP’s crown as the biggest ad group in the world by revenue last year, would face considerable regulatory challenges if it was to target WPP.
The speculation surrounding the future of WPP comes as a wave of consolidation sweeps through the global advertising market.
The US group Omnicom is in the midst of closing out a $13.5bn takeover of its rival IPG, which will create the largest advertising holding company in the world.
Dentsu, the world’s fifth largest ad group, is exploring a sale of all of its international businesses.