In a widely anticipated move, Cordiant Communications has agreed the sale of its City PR firm Financial Dynamics International in a deal worth £26 million.
The transaction represents the final stage of Cordiant’s disposal programme intended to cut debt. The group has already concluded deals to sell its Australian assets (see
Cordiant Completes Sale Of Australian Assets) and the German agency Scholz & Friends (see
Cordiant Offloads Scholz As WPP Moves In).
FD International is a pan-European and North American business communications network based in London. In the year ended 31 December 2002, it generated revenue of £33.9 million. As expected, the company is being bought out by management with the bulk of the £26 million provided by private equity firm Advent International (see Cordiant Lifted By Disposal Speculation).
In a statement, Cordiant said that the disposal was not expected to have an operational impact on the rest of the group, in particular the core Bates Group advertising business.
“FD’s International synergy with the Bates Group is minimal. FD International has few customer relationships in common with the Bates Group and is independently located and operated,” Cordiant said.
Shareholder approval for the sale will be sought at the meeting scheduled for 23 July. At the same time, investors will be asked to ratify the acquisition of Cordiant by WPP Group (see WPP Stands Firm On Cordiant Deal). Leading shareholder Active Value holds the key to the company’s future and on Friday it upped its stake by 1.35% to 28.75%. It also emerged that the Syrian billionaire Nahed Ojjeh had earlier purchased a 2% stake in Cordiant although she is not believed to have any connection with Active Value (see Endgame No Clearer As Chess Fan Makes Move On Cordiant).
Shares in Cordiant were down 7.1% at 3.5p at 11.30 today.
