Robert Lerwill, the CEO of Aegis, has been turfed out unexpectedly yesterday, apparently after a boardroom falling-out with John Napier, the chairman. He will leave at the end of the month after nearly four years at the helm.
His departure opens up the possibility of talks between Aegis and Vincent Bolloré, who owns 29%. Mr Bolloré is also the chairman of Havas, a rival media buyer to Aegis, and has long been keen to find some form of cooperation between the groups.
Watch this space...
I seek to apply the fundamental principles of surfing to the capital markets...
Yep, probably on Mr Bollore's shopping list. Aegis and Havas own the media-buying units Carat and MPG, which compete directly. Also, Sorrell was previously interested in the Synovate market research business. It might be time to carve up the Xmas roast!
I appreciate that the M&A angle makes this a special case but it's hard to be bullish on anything media-related at the moment. I suspect their results must be getting hammered, hence the boardroom tiff.
Just take a look at the newsflow from the newspaper & TV sectors - advertising is getting slashed, as is the workforce
Shares down 5.5% today after reporting 11.6% fall in organic revenue growth year on year in the first quarter, although the group predicts a "resilient" performance for 2009 as a whole... (???). Will this be a catalyst for an approach?
http://www.stockopedia.com/news/announcement/AGS/090518ags000201.htm
John Napier, chairman and interim chief executive officer, said: "Given visibility remains limited across the industry, in addition to sales we are focussed on delivering the cost reduction programme announced in March, which is on track. We have built in considerable flexibility in relation to variable costs. Our target remains to broadly maintain the full year underlying operating profit margins through continuing careful management of our businesses. Our financial position remains strong. We continue to manage our cash and working capital prudently."
