Sharewatch: Cordiant Falls As Take-Over Saga Drags On
Cordiant remained in focus yesterday, down 12.5% after French advertising group, Publicis, attempted to prevent an investigation from the Financial Services Authority, claiming it had not created a false market in Cordiant‘s shares.
The take-over deal has become somewhat cloak and dagger following news the mysterious Syrian-born chess promoter, Nahed Ojjeh, has increased her stake in the group to more than 10% (see Mystery As Chess Queen Raises Cordiant Stake). Ojjeh also has shares in Publicis, prompting speculation a secret deal has been struck between Publicis and Active Value, which owns 28% of Cordiant.
Despite an official statement denying any interest in Cordiant, Publicis has since reportedly claimed it is only interested in the company’s 25% share of ZenithOptimedia (Publicis owns the other 75%). It is also understood that the group has entered another round of discussions with Active Value.
Elsewhere, in the US, the dotcom sector was lifted by Yahoo!’s £1 billion purchase of online ad pioneer Overture, which sets the group up for a head to head battle with Google (see Yahoo! Acquires Overture In £1bn Deal). Overture’s shares climbed nearly 12% on the news, although they are still worth less than a quarter of their peak value in 1999.
The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were:
