Vin Murria sweetens her offer for M&C Saatchi

Serial tech entrepreneur Vin Murria has sweetened her offer for M&C Saatchi amid an ongoing battle over the future of the advertising agency.

Murria, who is the company’s deputy chairman and its largest shareholder with a 12.5 per cent stake, is attempting to take it private through a tie-up with investment firm AdvancedAdvT (AdvT).

AdvT is 13 per cent-owned by Murria, 60, and is also backed by private equity group Marwyn. AdvT itself owns 9.8 per cent of M&C Saatchi.

Serial tech entrepreneur: Vin Murria is M&C Saatchi’s deputy chairman and its largest shareholder with a 12.5 per cent stake

The group initially offered investors 1.86 shares in AdvT for each share in the company in an approach earlier this month that was rebuffed by the ad agency’s management.

However, Sky News reported that a new offer was tabled last week that included around 40p per share in cash.

AdvT previously said a merger with M&C Saatchi would allow the group to ‘build a data, analytics and digitally focused creative marketing business’.

The takeover tussle piles fresh pressure on the ad agency after regulators closed an investigation into an accounting scandal at the group earlier this month.