Shares in S4 Capital PLC advanced on Friday after The Wall Street reported the company had turned down a bid approach.
Shares in S4 Capital rose 8.6% to 43.69 pence each in London. They had earlier hit an intra-day high of 55.29p, a 37% increase.
The WSJ said S4 Capital, the London-based digital advertising, marketing and technology services, rejected a bid valuing the company at around $700 million last year from Stagwell, another agency.
That would translate to around £555 million at current exchange rates, more than double S4 Capital’s current market value of around £266 million.
https://www.wsj.com/business/media/he-was-the-ad-industrys-hunter-now-hes-the-prey-65a12b99?mod=business_lead_pos2
S4 Capital is run by Martin Sorrell, the former boss of WPP PLC.
In 2023, the company issued several profit warnings hit by a downturn in spending by clients, particularly in the technology sector.
‘After four years of very strong growth, 2023 was a difficult year impacted by volatile macro conditions and, consequently, cautious spending from clients, particularly those in the technology sector and from smaller project-based assignments,’ Executive Chair Martin Sorrell said when reporting fourth quarter results in January.
Sorrell said he is not expecting to see a ‘macro-economic improvement’ this year.
‘Client caution on marketing spend will likely persist, although not at last year’s level given interest rates are likely to fall over time,’ he added.
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