Advertising mogul Sorrell approached about S4 Capital deal

Sir Martin Sorrell, the advertizing mogul, has received a fig of merger approaches for S4 Capital, the London-listed selling services radical helium founded 7 years ago.

Sky News tin uncover that Sir Martin has been contacted successful caller weeks by imaginable suitors including One Equity Partners, a US-based backstage equity steadfast which focuses connected acquiring companies successful the healthcare, industrials, and exertion sectors.

This weekend, analysts suggested that One Equity would question to harvester S4 Capital with MSQ, a originative and exertion bureau radical it bought successful 2023.

Further details of the imaginable tie-up were unclear connected Saturday, including whether a ceremonial connection had been made oregon whether S4 Capital mightiness stay listed connected the London Stock Exchange if a woody were to beryllium completed.

S4 Capital is besides understood to person attracted caller involvement from different parties, the identities of which could not beryllium instantly established.

In March 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that Sir Martin had rebuffed respective offers from Stagwell, an advertizing radical led by Mark Penn, a erstwhile advisor to President Bill Clinton.

New Mountain Capital, different American backstage equity firm, was besides said astatine the clip to person held talks astir buying parts oregon each of S4 Capital.

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News of One Equity's attack puts the task founded by 1 of Britain's astir salient concern figures firmly successful play aft a torrid play successful which it has been buffeted by macroeconomic headwinds and a fig of accounting issues.

Sir Martin founded S4 Capital successful 2018, months aft his unexpected and acrimonious departure from WPP, the radical helium transformed from a shaper of ligament baskets into the world's largest supplier of selling services.

The businessman, who has voting power astatine S4 Capital, utilized his heavy web of organization relationships to rise wealth for an acquisition spree astatine S4, which included technology-focused agencies specified arsenic MediaMonks and MightyHive.

S4's clients present see Alphabet, Amazon, General Motors, Meta, T-Mobile, and Walmart.

Sir Martin's determination to people acquisitions successful the integer contented and programmatic media arenas reflected the priorities of what helium described arsenic a selling services radical for a caller era.

At WPP, helium was the designer of a now-widely replicated strategy to assemble hundreds of bureau brands nether 1 holding company.

By the clip helium stepped down, WPP was the proprietor of originative bureau networks specified arsenic JWT and Ogilvy, portion its media-buying musculus was channelled done the planetary subsidiary GroupM.

The latest approaches for S4 Capital travel during a play of profound alteration successful the planetary selling services industry, arsenic artificial quality dismantles practices and originative processes that had evolved implicit decades.

Sir Martin has spurned fewer opportunities to criticise his successor astatine WPP, Mark Read, arsenic good arsenic the wider advertizing industry, successful the 7 years since helium established S4 Capital.

Last month, WPP announced that Mr Read would beryllium replaced by Cindy Rose, a elder Microsoft enforcement who has sat connected the company's committee arsenic a non-executive manager since 2019.

"Cindy has supported the integer translation of ample enterprises astir the satellite - including embracing AI to make caller lawsuit experiences, concern models and gross streams," the WPP chairman, Philip Jansen, said.

"Her expertise successful this scenery volition beryllium hugely invaluable to WPP arsenic the manufacture navigates cardinal changes and macroeconomic uncertainty."

WPP has besides forfeited its presumption arsenic the world's largest selling services empire to Publicis, and volition beryllium shunted adjacent further down the sector's biggest players erstwhile Omnicom Group's $13.25bn (£9.85bn) takeover of Interpublic Group is completed.

At the clip of Sir Martin's exit from WPP successful April 2018, the institution had a marketplace capitalisation of much than £16bn.

On Friday, its marketplace worth astatine its closing stock terms of 367.5p was conscionable £4.23bn.

Last month, the advertizing manufacture quality outlet Campaign reported that WPP had held tentative discussions with the consulting steadfast Accenture astir a imaginable operation oregon partnership, underscoring the unit connected bequest selling services groups.

This weekend, it remained unclear however apt it was that Sir Martin would consummate a woody to harvester S4 Capital with different manufacture subordinate specified arsenic One Equity-owned MSQ.

Shares successful S4 Capital closed connected Friday astatine 21.2p, giving the institution a marketplace capitalisation of £140m.

The banal has fallen by astir 60% during the past 12 months, and is much than 90% little than its highest successful 2022.

At 1 point, Sir Martin's involvement successful S4 Capital was valued astatine adjacent to £500m.

A spokeswoman for S4 declined to comment, portion a spokesperson for One Equity Partners said by email: "OEP is not commenting connected this matter."