After per week or so of hypothesis WPP has confirmed it has offered a stake in large PR agency FGS World (the one-time Finsbury Metropolis PR agency based by Roland Rudd) to US-based international investor KKR.
WPP says it can stay the bulk shareholder. KKR is shopping for the stake held by Golden Gate Capital plus some from different share3holders.
FGS, a mix of Finsbury, The Glover Park Group, Hering Schuppener and Sard Verbinnen & Co, has round 1300 workers world wide and a blue-chip shopper listing. The transaction values FGS World at $1.425bn.
WPP CEO Mark Learn says: “FGS World has established itself as a world chief in strategic advisory and communications, offering board-level counsel to the world’s main firms and organisations. We’re delighted to welcome KKR as a brand new strategic companion in FGS World, in a transaction that recognises the great worth of the enterprise and its potential for continued sturdy progress.”
KKR companion Philipp Freise says: “WPP and FGS World have constructed an distinctive communications advisory agency. Stakeholder engagement is a boardroom problem and we’re right this moment establishing a strong strategic partnership between WPP and KKR to assist FGS World as they proceed on their path to constructing an industry-defining international enterprise.”
