Havas, the French advertising group, has said it is interested in bidding for American rivals, Grey Global Group, starting with an offer of over $1 billion (£550 million).
Chairman and chief executive officer of Havas, Alain de Pouzilhac, told French newspaper Le Figaro that he was interested in buying Grey and had secured financial backing.
During the interview he said: “I confirm that we are interested in Grey. It is in fact a dossier that could turn out to be very interesting for Havas, both from a strategic and a financial point of view.”
According to reports, financial partners could include the Blackstone Group or Hellman & Friedman, two private equity firms that have already expressed an interest in Grey.
Grey, the world’s seventh largest advertising agency was put up for sale last month by controlling shareholder, Ed Myers. It is sought after because it is one of Procter & Gamble’s two global advertising agencies and handles about 30% of its advertising spend. Last year profits at Grey reached $29 million, on sales of $1.3 billion.
Global advertising giants, WPP and Publicis have both been linked as potential bidders for Grey but Publicis confirmed earlier this month that it was not interested (see Publicis Pull Out Of Grey Bids). Chairman Maurice Levy said that a take-over of Grey was not necessarily in the best interest for his company. Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, has not yet decided whether he will submit a bid as he is waiting on the year’s final accounts being available.
It was previously thought that Havas, the smallest of the advertising groups, would be stretched by the purchase of Grey and was therefore not considered as a front-runner for the take-over.
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