M&C Saatchi removes boss after failed takeover bid for ad agency
M&C SAATCHI’S rogue deputy chairman has been ousted from the advertising agency after her hostile takeover attempt was beaten by a better offer.
Directors of the company founded by Margaret Thatcher’s favourite admen have voted to remove Vin Murria as director with immediate effect following her ill-fated attempt to seize control of the business through her bid vehicle Advancedadvt.
In a statement ahead of M&C’S annual meeting on June 30, the ad agency’s independent directors said that it was “not appropriate” for there to be a vote on her re-election.
Ms Murria, who joined in March last year, is the company’s largest shareholder controlling 22pc of voting shares through personal holdings and that of Advancedadvt.
She made a direct appeal to M&C’S shareholders last month to back her £254m hostile bid after the directors, including chief executive Moray Maclennan, repeatedly rebuffed her approaches. Next Fifteen launched a rival £310m bid later in May that was backed by M&C on the promise of creating a “global and diversified group” with strengths in technology and data.
Responding to the decision to remove Ms Murria from the board, Advancedadvt said Next was a “credible buyer” but its offer “does not fairly reflect the potential to unlock significant synergies” for M&C.
The company has asked M&C to clarify its analysis of the financial terms of Advancedadvt’s offers given Next’s shares have fallen by 13pc since the bid was announced, meaning its offer valued at 251.8p per M&C share has now dropped to 220.1p. M&C Saatchi was founded in 1995 by brothers Maurice and Charles Saatchi and is best known for Mrs Thatcher’s “Labour Isn’t Working” advert that helped propel the Conservatives to power in 1979.
The company has been battling back from an accounting scandal and the pandemic-induced downturn by overhauling its operations and making cuts.
Ms Murria’s Advancedadvt was pushing for a deal on the grounds that the combined operation would have the power to create a more valuable data, analytics and creative marketing business through a string of deals.
However, M&C’S independent directors criticised her approach, claiming her bid would “dilute and transfer value” away from M&C shareholders and “cause disruption” to the business by making it harder to hold on to key staff. They also said that Advancedavt’s hopes of securing transformational digital-led M&A had not been backed with details of takeover targets.
In a statement, Advancedadvt and Ms Murria said they “continue to consider their options”.