MSQ Partners Rebuffs Any Potential Merger Talks With S4 Capital

On Thursday, advertising company MSQ Companions revealed that it was not concerned in any potential merger talks with Martin Sorrell-founded advert group S4 Capital.The corporate, in an announcement offered to ADWEEK, stated, “The board of administrators of MSQ has not been concerned in discussions relating to, or thought-about any proposal for, the rumored transaction.”MSQ famous that there could have been discussions between representatives of One Fairness Companions, its largest shareholder, and S4 Capital.Within the assertion, it added, “For the avoidance of doubt, neither OEP nor MSQ intend to pursue additional discussions relating to the rumored transaction.” On Monday, S4 Capital confirmed the rumored merger information between the 2 U.Okay.-based firms, saying in an announcement, “These discussions are at a really preliminary stage, and there could be no certainty {that a} transaction might be forthcoming.”Information of a possible merger despatched shares of S4 Capital upward, leaping as excessive as 14% in worth, in keeping with Reuters. This offered a much-needed enhance to its inventory value, which had fallen by as a lot as 98% from its September 2021 highs, and gave it a market worth of £140 million ($187.7 million).Sorrell shaped S4 in Could 2018 and rapidly started buying and merging inventive, knowledge, and providers businesses collectively into what’s now a 9,000-person workforce. Nevertheless, he’s finest identified for constructing WPP right into a inventive behemoth. This was not the primary time S4 has been linked with a merger or acquisition. In 2023, U.S. advertising group Stagwell approached S4 with a $700 million proposal, which Sorrell rebuffed. S4 has reduce its 2025 income forecast to good points within the low single digits on account of its tech shoppers’ warning, stemming from a weaker international economic system and U.S. tariffs.