Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC (AIM:NFC) said it has terminated its takeover offer for advertising company M&C Saatchi PLC (AIM:SAA) after its proposal failed to gain the necessary shareholder majority at a court meeting on October 31, 2022.
Next 15 had previously announced that the outcome of the court meeting was expected, after M&C Saatchi's biggest shareholders, businesswoman Vin Murria and her investment vehicle ADV, which together hold 22.3% of M&C Saatchi, stated their intension to vote against the takeover.
M&C withdrew its support for Next 15's offer in June, while a rival bid from ADV lapsed last month.
As a result of the failure to pass the required resolution at the M&C Saatchi court meeting today, the offer has lapsed and the acquisition of M&C Saatchi by Next 15 has terminated, Next 15 said in a statement.
In a separate release, M&C stated: “As both the Next 15 offer and ADV offer have lapsed, M&C Saatchi is no longer in an offer period.”
The company added that it believes in its "strong, standalone future prospects".
“Following the lapse of both the Next 15 offer and the ADV offer, the M&C Saatchi directors look forward to continuing the implementation of M&C Saatchi's strategy as an independent business including to: invest in high margin businesses, enhance margins, further simplify the group, implement technology platforms, and scale data and analytics capabilities, and reduce costs,” it stated.
Meanwhile, Next 15 said it remains “highly confident” in its future prospects, reiterating its previous forecast that its full-year results will be at least in line with management expectations.