WPP rejects KKR's majority bid for FGS Global

WPP has rejected a bid by private equity firm KKR to gain a majority stake in FGS Global, The Financial Times (FT) has reported.

KKR already owns a stake of about 30% in communications agency FGS Global, with WPP holding 55% and the rest owned by partners and staff. According to the newspaper, holding company WPP rejected a bid in the past few months that would make private equity firm KKR the majority owner.

The FT writes that the latest offer valued FGS at a higher price than its $1.425 billion valuation at the time KKR invested in April 2023, but the bid was dismissed for being too low. Nonetheless, the private equity firm could reportedly return with a higher offer.

WPP declined to comment when contacted by Campaign's sister site PRWeek. KKR had not responded at the time of publication.

KKR’s initial investment in FGS Global saw Golden Gate Capital, the private investment firm that had been a shareholder in FGS since 2016, exit its investment through the sale of its stake to the private equity company.

PRWeek wrote at the time that the KKR deal was likely to push back a planned IPO for FGS until at least three years from 2023—the initial plan had been to float on the stock market by 2024 at the latest.

FGS Global formed in its current structure in December 2021, after the merger of Finsbury Glover Hering (FGH) and Sard Verbinnen. FGH itself launched as a combined entity at the start of 2021 after the merger of WPP stablemates Finsbury, The Glover Park Group and Hering Schuppener.

The agency generated revenue of $455.4 million in 2023, with 1,400 employees globally, according to PRWeek’s Agency Business Report.