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The Takeover Panel, a U.K. regulatory body that monitors takeover activity, has said that WPP Group and its potential private equity partner, Hellman & Friedman, have until noon on Nov. 25 to make an offer for Aegis Group, AdAge reports.
In the meantime, French investor Vincent Bollore - billionaire and chairman of French holding company Havas - continued to increase his stake in Aegis, up to 20.8 percent by the end of last week. But executives familiar with the situation say Bollore would like to keep Aegis independent and is interested in forging a joint venture or partnership between Havas and Aegis, which would help Havas’s media-buying entity, MPG.
Publicis, which withdrew as a suitor, still has the option of re-entering the fray.
WPP, which employs more than 100,000 people, is said to be cutting several thousand jobs worldwide. The U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain were cited by the company as markets under pressure.
Cuts are expected to be centered in…
The new ads running below the fold on the front page of The New York Times sell for $75,000 on weekdays and $100,000 on Sundays, the New York Post reports.
The New York Times began selling advertising below the fold on…
Angered by a London bus advertisement that sent her to a website where she was told that she was going to hell, to spend all eternity in torment, comedy writer Ariane Sherine decided to launch a counter-campaign.
She began raising…
Apple’s iTunes Store is set to significantly shift its approach to selling songs online, including dropping copying protection (digital rights management, or DRM) and introducing a new pricing plan, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Rather than the standard 99 cents…
Online spending in several key categories, including Sports & Fitness and Video Games, increased and outperformed offline spending during the 2008 holiday season, while overall online and offline spending in other home and luxury-goods categories decreased across the board, according…
Walgreens December sales of $6.1 billion were an increase of 10.8% from $5.5 billion for the same month in 2007, the company announced. Same-store sales rose 4.9%, while comparable store front-end sales increased 0.4%.
Walgreens transactions in comparable stores increased…
