Mission Group PLC on Thursday unanimously rejected an ‘opportunistic’ revised bid proposal from Brave Bison Group PLC stating it ‘undervalues the group and its prospects’.

Mission, the Devon, England-based owner of a group of digital marketing and communications agencies, said the proposal is dilutive to shareholders as it does not reflect the relevant contributions of each party to the proposed combined group.

Mission believes the revised plan does not provide a ‘step change in scale, nor any new offering or access to new markets.’

The company said Brave Bison management had not set out a ‘compelling future strategy for the proposed combined group’ in meetings between the two firms.

Shares in Mission Group were up 1.1% to 28.30 pence in London on Thursday morning for a £26.1 million market capitalisation.

Shares in Brave Bison, a London-based digital advertising and technology service provider, were up 2.0% to 2.50p for a £32.2 million market cap.

On Monday, Brave Bison said it had on May 25 submitted revised terms for a possible offer for Mission worth around 35.1 pence per share or £32.3 million in total.

The terms of the revised proposal are 13.9 Brave Bison shares for each Mission share.

Brave Bison said the revised proposal implies an enterprise value for Mission of £59.1 million, inclusive of £26.8 million net debt.

The proposal represents a 21% increase from Brave Bison’s initial approach of 29.04p per share, or £26.4 million.

Brave Bison said the revised plan includes a partial cash alternative for a maximum of 50% of the offer value.

But Mission said the revised proposal does not reflect the ‘inherent value’ in the company and ‘undervalues’ the contribution of Mission to the enlarged group.

Mission said the plan is not ‘transformational,’ and that the increased scale and some additional capabilities do not offset the dilutive impact to shareholders.

Mission said it is working closely with its advisers and continues to review options to reduce its debt position, including the disposal of some assets within its portfolio.

The company said it is in ‘active discussions’ on a number of these assets.

‘The board considers that an disposal of even some of the assets would have a material impact on deleveraging, based on the estimated proceeds,’ Mission added.

Mission said it is ‘open’ to proposals that it believes would enhance shareholder value and deliver benefits to shareholders.

But the board ‘does not consider the terms of the revised possible offer to meet those criteria.’

Mission urged shareholders to take no action.

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