• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 6, 2022

The independent directors of the M&C Saatchi board punctuated their support for an offer for the company by Next Fifteen Communications Group by removing fellow indie board member Vin Murria.

Murria was appointed to the Saatchi board in May of 2021 and was hailed at the time by Saatchi chairman Gareth Davis for business experience and skills that would be of “great value to the board” going forward.

But in January her company AdvancedAdvT informed Saatchi that it was interested in buying the London-based agency and after months of negotiations made a formal offer that Saatchi rejected. Advanced sweetened its offer several times but was still rebuffed by the agency’s independent board directors.

The Next Fifteen offer was disclosed on May 20, having previously been studied and recommended by the independent Saatchi board members. It now refers to the Advanced offer as “hostile.”

News of Murria’s ejection from the board was announced today when the company also made public the date of its upcoming annual meeting, set for June 30. No takeover-related resolutions are being considered at the meeting—formal M&A documents have not been issued yet.

Next Fifteen has set its annual meeting for June 23 and shareholders are being asked to approve issuance of shares that the company could use as part of its offer for Saatchi.

AdvancedAdvT and Murria, which together own 22.3% of Saatchi’s outstanding shares, said in a regulatory filing they are considering options. The firm also noted a 13% decline in Next Fifteen’s stock price since it made a formal proposal to acquire Saatchi, making the value of its offer considerably lower.