Saatchis put off flotation plan
Advertising agency M&C Saatchi today postponed plans for a stock market flotation to fund a European expansion drive.
The London Stock Exchange said the group had told it that it was delaying the listing “until further notice”.
M&C Saatchi did not give a reason for putting off the flotation, which had been due to result in the start of trading in the company’s shares today. No one from M&C Saatchi was available to comment.
A statement from the London Stock Exchange said: “The issuer’s advisers have notified the London Stock Exchange that M&C Saatchi plc has postponed its proposed offering of ordinary shares.
“Dealing will therefore not commence today and is postponed until further notice.”
M&C Saatchi had reportedly been selling shares priced between 143p and 164p each last week, giving it a market value of between £76m (€113.6m) and £86m (€128.5m).
The agency, which has offices in 11 countries including the UK, United States, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, had said it would use the capital raised by the listing to expand in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
The group said it was also planning to open another office in China and new offices in South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and India and to boost its presence in the US.
Lord Maurice Saatchi, his brother Charles, David Kershaw, Bill Muirhead and Jeremy Sinclair set up the business in 1995 after a dispute with shareholders of Saatchi & Saatchi, the advertising firm that the two brothers and Mr Sinclair created in 1970.
M&C Saatchi’s clients include British Airways, Qantas, Scottish & Newcastle, Dixons, Royal Bank of Scotland, Halfords, GlaxoSmithKline and the AA in the UK, as well as Woolworths and Optus in Australia.
