WPP's TNS bid approved by US regulators

US-- Competition regulators in the US have given tacit approval to WPP's takeover bid for TNS.

At the end of a statutory waiting period, the Federal Trade Commission took no further action on a pre-merger notification, WPP said.

WPP has given TNS shareholders until 29 August to accept its cash and shares offer, which values the firm at about £1.15bn. TNS's board has urged investors to reject the offer, which is says substantially undervalues the firm.

WPP's stock fell 16p to 487p yesterday after an institutional seller placed 26 million shares (about 2% of the firm's market capitalization) at 486p. Shares were trading this afternoon at 489.5p.

Meanwhile GfK, which had been planning a nil-premium merger with TNS before WPP got involved, is continuing to seek backing for a rival all-cash bid.

Author: Robert Bain

Related links:

GfK set to trump Sorrell's TNS bid with all-cash offer

Decision time for WPP as TNS rejects 260p bid