(Reuters) -Shares of WPP rose as much as 6.6% on Monday after the The Times reported, citing sources, that the British advertising firm has drawn takeover interest from French rival Havas and private equity firms Apollo and KKR.
WPP’s shares have fallen more than 60% year-to-date, giving it a market valuation of about 3 billion pounds ($3.95 billion). Despite the rise on Monday, the shares still languish near 27-year lows.
The ad group, founded by Martin Sorrell in 1985, warned on profit last month after reporting a worse-than-expected 5.9% drop in like-for-like net revenue. It is currently undergoing an extensive operational overhaul under its new CEO Cindy Rose, who is looking to simplify the group while focusing on data and AI.
WPP, Havas, KKR and Apollo did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
($1 = 0.7596 pounds)
(Reporting by Ankita Bora and Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
