Aegis Raises Funds to Buy in China and US

Aegis, Synovate's parent company, is raising funds through the issue of a convertible bond for c.£190m, which it plans to use to make acquisitions in the US and China.

Chairman John Napier said that the new funding will enable the company to return to the level of spending on acquisitions it had realised five years before the economic downturn in 2009. Prior to this period, Aegis had spent about £100m a year on acquisitions during the previous five years.

Yesterday Aegis - which comprises research group Synovate and media arm Aegis Media - reported that group revenue in 2009 had risen 0.3% to £1.35bn, while pre-tax profits fell 27% to £91.2m.

The firm also announced its plans to move Jerry Buhlmann - currently the CEO of Aegis Media - to the position of Group CEO in May, replacing Napier, who has served as interim CEO since December 2008.

Napier said that Aegis's largest shareholder, Havas owner Vincent Bolloré, was 'supportive' of the new appointment, but had not been involved in the decision.

He added that there had been no talks with Bolloré about a possible merger with Havas, and that settling Bolloré's long-running campaign for Board representation was one of the reasons why it had taken such a long time to appoint a new CEO.

According to a report in the Financial Times, analysts are speculating that Buhlmann's media background might mean that Synovate could be put up for sale. However, he has since confirmed that he supports the existing two divisional structure, 'with the usual caveat that it's in the shareholder interest'.

Yesterday, while reporting that Synovate had closed the year with a 13.7% fall in net revenue Napier, said that the research division had delivered a 'satisfactory outcome in 2009 in difficult market circumstances'.

Web sites: www.synovate.com and www.aegisplc.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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