Sorrell's S4 Share Sale Raises £116m

Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services investment vehicle S4Capital has raised £116m through the issue of 36.8 million shares at 315 pence each. Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund further acquisitions.

Sorrell (pictured) set up S4Capital last year, just weeks after quitting WPP, and quickly acquired Amsterdam-based MediaMonks. The business has since made a further twelve buys across digital content, data and programmatic, including this year Latin American data and analytics consultancy Digodat; and Australian digital strategy and analytics consultancy Lens10.

Shares in S4Capital were trading 6.4% higher at 335.00 pence each this morning in London, giving the business a market capitalisation of £1.64 billion. The issue comprised a placing of 29.7 million shares at 315p each and the subscription of a total of 7.1 million shares by directors. The firm had announced yesterday it was attempting to raise £100m, but increased this to £116m in the light of 'strong demand' both from existing investors and potential new holders.

Sorrell commented: 'In line with our mantra of 'faster, better, cheaper', now is not the time to slow down. We believe that it is precisely the time to quicken the development of our capabilities around digital transformation, accelerated by the pandemic. We have a great team in place, as good as I have seen anywhere, eager to create new and exciting ideas for our clients. We, therefore, want to ensure that the company has the necessary flexibility to capitalise on opportunities as they arise'.

Web site: www.s4capital.com .