Mark Read, who as CEO of WPP Group oversaw the sale of a majority stake of the holding company's Kantar Group to Bain Capital in 2019, has
been named chairman of Kantar Media, which was spun off and sold to H.I.G. Capital earlier this
year.
“Kantar Media serves a unique and essential role in the media ecosystem – helping advertisers, agencies, media owners and platforms understand how people are consuming media
and how best to direct their media investments," Read says in a statement, adding that his new role will involve "bringing greater clarity to the media ecosystem at a time when audience behavior is
changing more rapidly than ever."
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Read stepped down as CEO of WPP Sept.
1 and was succeeded by former Microsoft exec Cindy Rose.
WPP originally formed Kantar Group in 1992 to oversee disparate marketing and media research operations the company had acquired,
including Taylor Nelson Sofres and Millward Brown, and in 2010 in officially launched Kantar Media to oversee its media research assets.
WPP, which retains a 40% stake in jointly owned Kantar
Group, recently announced it is exploring its own strategic options for the holding company, and it recently was rumored to be in merger talks with Havas, though Havas subsequently denied that.
In October, Read was named in a class action suit brought against WPP and
key members of its management team by a group of disgruntled shareholders.