Advertising agency M&C Saatchi has been the receiving party of a number of highly lucrative takeover bids recently, with British tycoon Vin Murria making her fourth bid to acquire the agency.
The 60-year-old Murria is actually the largest shareholder of the company, owning about 43 percent of the company alongside AdvancedAdvT, who are backed by private equity group Marwyn. She also held the position of deputy chair at M&C Saatchi until recently.
Murria has made have made a number of offers to become the major shareholder of the company, however they have all been rejected by the board of directors as they’ve been making great strides in their financial recovery. In fact, just last year they recorded the best profits in the company’s 27-year-old history.
M&C Saatchi had recently approved a bid by another firm, Next Fifteen, worth over $545 million, however at the last minute they decided to back out of it, pointing out in an official announcement that the terms were no longer fair or acceptable. This was due to the fact that the offer was a mix of cash and share values, with Next Fifteen’s stock price falling sharply over the last few days.
Murria and AdvancedAdvT’s bid is significantly lower, worth about $447 million. However, sources from M&C Saatchi have been quoted saying that her way of thinking could prove harmful to the company.
“She has made a lot of money, but leadership is multidimensional,” said one source at the agency when speaking to The Guardian. “She is very dogmatic, her incredible energy is only matched by her ego. She is not particularly embracing of other views – it’s my way or the highway – and that points to a lack of respect towards other people and their roles.”
But others praised her work ethic, stressing that she’s not afraid to say things “need to be said in the working room.”
Murria has a reputation of being incredibly hard-working having created three start-up companies that reached unicorn status, with their individual worth exceeding $US1 billion. Whether her latest challenge to acquire M&C Saatchi will be successful or not remains to be seen.
