TNS Rejects £948m WPP Bid
Market research firm TNS has rejected a £948 million offer for the company made by Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP.
WPP approached TNS at the weekend with a cash and shares offer valuing the company’s shares at 230p.
The bid followed the announcement that TNS was in discussions with GfK about a nil-premium merger.
TNS rejected WPP’s offer on Sunday in order to continue talks with GfK.
Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, said the company was surprised and disappointed that TNS had rejected the offer, and puzzled that attempts to engage with TNS management had been “hindered and resisted”.
He added: “We are also disappointed that TNS has not indicated that it would be willing to provide us with the same information which it has given to GfK as part of their ‘nil premium merger’ discussions, despite the fact that we would be entitled to such information were the UK Takeover Code to apply.
“While we continue to review our position, we encourage TNS shareholders to urge their Board to engage with us rather than simply persisting on an exclusive basis with a ‘nil premium merger’ arrangement with GfK.”
WPP: 020 7408 2204 www.wpp.com
TNS: www.tnsglobal.com