Sorrell set for FTSE return

SIR Martin Sorrell is expected to return to the London Stock Exchange within weeks.

Details of the advertising tycoon’s plan to take control of London-listed investment firm Derriston Capital will this morning be sent to shareholders.

Investors will then be asked to vote on the merger at a meeting on September 27 – a formality, according to sources.

Sorrell’s abrupt exit from WPP in April, the company he founded and led for more than three decades, shocked the industry. The 73-year- old faced allegations of spending company funds on a prostitute, which he has strenuously denied.

Within just 48 hours of leaving WPP, however, Sorrell was said to be plotting his next venture.

The businessman then pulled in millions of pounds in backing from allies, in addition to putting in £40m of his own money, to form S4 Capital which will be reversed into Derriston.

He will become the listed company’s executive chairman, holding more than 75pc of shares, and will be joined on the board by veteran financier Rupert Faure Walker, 70, and chairman of gambling group Sky Bet, Paul Roy, 71.

Despite Sorrell likening S4 to a ‘peanut’ compared to global giant WPP, it is likely to become one of the most closely watched marketing agencies in the world.

After the reverse takeover is approved, the firm plans to issue hundreds of millions of shares.