GfK withdraws from TNS bid
GfK AG formally withdrew from what originally was a friendly merger discussion with market-research company Taylor Nelson Sofres plc on Aug. 27, ending a months-long negotiation. TNS has been the target of a hostile takeover by advertising group WPP since early July. After WPP made its hostile bid, GfK tried to raise the funds to make a cash offer for TNS. “The board, after careful consideration, has concluded that the terms of the financing available did not enable a sufficiently compelling alternative cash offer to be made for TNS that was also economically in the best interests of the GfK shareholders,” GfK said in a statement released on its Web site.
WPP is offering $2.02 billion for TNS, which TNS says undervalues the company. As of press time, the company indicated that it will continue to reject the hostile bid from WPP. TNS generated $1.84 billion in revenue last year. WPP is the parent company to ad agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, JWT and Young & Rubicam. It also owns Kantar Group, which ranked No. 5 in Marketing News’ Honomichl Global 25 Report of the top market research firms by revenue. London-based TNS ranked third and GfK fourth. GfK is based in Nuremberg, Germany.
