WPP makes hostile bid for market research firm

WPP Group, the advertising and marketing company, said Wednesday that it had made a hostile bid for the British market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres, aiming to upset that company's plans to merge with a rival, GfK. Martin Sorrell, the WPP chief executive, said in a statement that WPP had "reluctantly" decided to go straight to shareholders of TNS, after the TNS board refused to enter into discussions on a tie-up. The TNS board has rejected four bids from WPP, most recently last week. WPP is the world's second-largest advertising company, after Omnicom Group. "Although our offer may be characterized by some as a 'hostile bid,' we believe that it is in no way hostile to TNS share owners nor to TNS's clients and people," Sorrell said. He said the offer was superior to GfK's plans to merge with TNS in a deal in which... [read full story]