Publicis holds on for Cordiant deal as deadline nears

Publicis, the French advertising group, confirmed that it remained interested in doing a deal with UK Active Value which would enable it to acquire Cordiant's stake in the media buying agency Zenith Optimedia for a knock-down price.

Active Value put a further set of proposals to Publicis over the weekend but these were rejected. The active investor has to come up with a fresh plan by Wednesday or Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP, which already controls Cordiant's debt, will delist the company's shares, forcing Publicis to pay the full price of £75m for Cordiant's 25 per cent stake in Zenith.

Publicis owns the other 75 per cent but under a shareholder agreement can buy 25 per cent for as little as £4m if there is a change of control of Cordiant. Active Value, which owns 28 per cent of Cordiant, is understood to be working on a plan which would result in the change of control clause being triggered. In return, it and other Cordiant shareholders could receive a share of the savings Publicis will make by buying the Zenith stake on the cheap.

The French firm admitted that Active Value had made another proposal on Saturday regarding Cordiant and Cordiant's shareholding in ZenithOptimedia which it had turned down. Publicis also reiterated it had "no intention of making an offer for the shares of Cordiant" but left the door open for a deal on the ZenithOptimedia stake. It said it was interested "solely in the Cordiant assets to which Publicis is linked by shareholding, by a brand belonging to Publicis or through clients which have selected Publicis".

Maurice Levy, Publicis' chief executive said over the weekend that he had a "fiduciary responsibility" to consider proposals that would enable him to get full ownership of ZenithOptimedia cheaply.

Active Value could trigger a change of control by creating a so-called "concert party" with other shareholders. Speculation has been rife that Nahed Ojjeh, the wealthy Syrian chess enthusiast, might be sympathetic to such a move. She has recently amassed a 9.89 per cent stake Cordiant and also has a one per cent stake in Publicis although both firms deny having any contact with her. "I think if Active Value came back with a proposal which was good enough then we'd have to listen to it for our shareholders," a Publicis spokesperson said.

One possibility might include Publicis offering to share the £71m saving it would make on the cheap purchase of the stake with Cordiant's shareholders. One City source said last night: "It all centres on Active Value and whether they put a proposal to us... if something's going to happen, it'll obviously move very quickly because of this deadline."