Next Fifteen ends M&C Saatchi bid after shareholder opposition (updated)

Next 15

31/10/2022 13:15

(Recasts with Next Fifteen statement, detail, background)
       Oct 31 (Reuters) - Consultancy Next Fifteen
Communications  NFC.L  has terminated its takeover offer of M&C
Saatchi  SAA.L  after the required majority of the British
advertising group's shareholders did not vote in favour of the
proposal at a court meeting on Monday.
    Amid a bidding war that also previously involved its biggest
shareholder, M&C withdrew support for Next Fifteen's offer of
$381 million in June and later warned it might not gain investor
support but agreed to reconvene meetings on Oct. 31.
    M&C also scrapped a general meeting scheduled to vote on
Next Fifteen's proposal after the offer lapsed, and declared it
was no longer in an offer period under British takeover rules
after a bid from its top investor, Vin Murria's AdvancedadvT
(ADV) investment vehicle, also lapsed last month. 
    "Following the lapse of both the Next 15 Offer and the ADV
Offer, the M&C Saatchi Directors look forward to continuing the
implementation of M&C Saatchi's strategy as an independent
business," the company said in a statement.
    In a separate statement, Next Fifteen also expressed
confidence in its own future prospects.   
 (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Muhammed Husain in
Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((Muhammed.Husain@thomsonreuters.com;))