Ascential, Omnicom: Hudson Stake Not Part Of Deal, Remain Mum On How Omnicom Is Participating In Its Sale

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, October 31, 2023

Spokespersons for both Ascential and Omnicom denied a report by MediaPostMonday that Omnicom could end up holding Ascential's equity in agency tech startup Hudson MX as part of Omnicom's acquisition of Ascential's digital commerce assets.

Both spokespersons, however, declined to elaborate on how and why Omnicom is participating in the sale of Hudson MX.

"We are only helping them with the sale," the Omnicom spokesperson said, declining to explain explicitly how Omnicom was helping Ascential do that.

"Ascential is a minority shareholder in Hudson. We have sold Flywheel to Omnicom and Hudson wasn’t part of the agreed sale announced yesterday," the Ascential spokesperson confirmed, adding, "The board of Hudson make decisions about the future of Hudson and have initiated a sale process.

"All I can confirm with you is that Omnicom have confirmed that they will participate in the process - I have no further information about what that means. Why they have decided to do that is a question for Omnicom."

MediaPost based its reporting on information from a well-placed source familiar with the terms of Omnicom's acquisition of Ascential's digital commerce assets.

Prior to Omnicom's surprise bid to acquire those assets, Ascential had floated a plan to tuck its investment in Hudson MX with other assets including Flywheel Digital as part of a potential public offering.

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