M&C Saatchi rejects £50m approach for performance division from Brave Bison

Advertising group M&C Saatchi has rejected a £50 million approach for its Performance division from Rupert Murdoch-backed digital marketing agency Brave Bison.

M&C Saatchi confirmed it received an “unsolicited” proposal from London-listed marketing and advertising technology firm Brave Bison, saying it “fundamentally undervalues” the division and does not reflect its “future prospects”.

The firm said the division was a “core element of the company’s growth plans”, adding that talks were not ongoing.

It follows a Sky News report over the weekend that Brave Bison had put forward a cash-and-shares approach for M+C Saatchi Performance, which is a specialist in media planning and buying across digital channels.

The division has clients including Amazon and Facebook owner Meta.

Brave Bison – which is also backed by billionaire and former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Michael Ashcroft – said it wanted to merge the division with its existing performance marketing operations and gain scale to challenge global marketing networks.

“The combined business would be one of the largest independent performance marketing companies outside the US, with a market-leading presence in UK and APAC (Asia Pacific) with no substantial regional overlap,” Brave Bison said.

An acquisition of the division would boost Brave Bison’s annual underlying earnings by more than 80% to £17 million, it said.

Brave would fund the proposed deal through the sale of new shares and a lending facility of £25, for which it said it had already secured support from a UK lender.

It marks the latest takeover move by Brave Bison, which has already secured five deals so far this year.

Brave Bison struck a deal earlier this year to buy an influencer marketing business from Rupert Murdoch’s News UK for up to £7.6 million, which saw Mr Murdoch’s firm take a stake in the business.

Last year it bought the Social Chain agency founded by Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett, but failed in its attempt to buy rival Mission Group after making a £32.3 million swoop.

M+C Saatchi Performance is headquartered in Singapore and has around 410 staff.