(Alliance News) - AdvancedAdvT Ltd on Monday said its offer to buy M&C Saatchi PLC values the London-based advertising agency higher than Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC's deal.
The announcement comes hours after M&C Saatchi reported it removed Vin Murria, who is the chair of AdvancedAdvT, from its board as non-executive director.
On May 20, M&C Saatchi said it saw AdvancedAdvT Ltd's as an "unsolicited hostile offer" and "derisory". M&C Saatchi directors recommend shareholders to accept the deal by London-based growth consultant Next Fifteen Communications.
Next Fifteen offered 0.1637 of a Next Fifteen share and 40 pence in cash for each M&C Saatchi share, valuing M&C shares at 247.2 pence each.
The Next Fifteen offer had represented a 48% premium to M&C Saatchi's closing price of 167.5 pence on January 4, the last business day before AdvancedAdvT, a London-listed acquisition vehicle led by Vin Murria, said it had taken a minority stake.
Under AdvancedAdvT's offer in May, shareholders in M&C Saatchi will for each share held either receive 2.043 new shares in AdvancedAdvT and 40p in cash, or receive 2.530 new AdvancedAdvT shares.
At the time of AdvancedAdvT's offer, it valued each M&C share at 207.5p, about 40p lower than Next Fifteen's offer of 247.2p. Next Fifteen's acquisition deal valued M&C at about GBP310.1 million. AdvancedAdvT's proposal had valued M&C lower, at GBP253.6 million.
However, AdvancedAdvT on Monday said due to the fall in Next Fifteen's share price, its owner offer now values M&C Saatchi higher.
"In the nine business days since the release of NFC's firm offer announcement, the price of a NFC share has fallen by 13%, from 1,266 pence to 1,100 pence at the close of business on June 1, 2022," AdvancedAdvT explained.
Based on share prices from June 1, AdvancedAdvT's offer valued each M&C share at 221.4 pence. This is higher than what it said is Next Fifteen's June 1 share price-adjusted offer price of 220.1p per share.
"The board of M&C Saatchi continues to recommend NFC's offer, which as at June 1, 2022 offered lower value, yet described AdvancedAdvT's final offer as 'derisory,'" AdvancedAdvT said.
"AdvancedAdvT continues to believe that NFC's current offer for M&C Saatchi does not fairly reflect the potential to unlock significant synergies for M&C Saatchi shareholders as a whole."
AdvancedAdvT shares were untraded in London on Monday, last quoted at 85.31p each. Next Fifteen traded 1.1% higher at 1,112.00p each.
M&C Saatchi shares were down 0.4% at 194.20p each.
By Tom Budszus; tombudszus@alliancenews.com
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