Media Square revealed yesterday that it was suing Porta and Wright for £760,000 in damages. It claims the alleged conspiracy was “part of a project to allow Porta to back the acquisition of all or part of the Media Square Group”.

In a statement Porta said the claims made were untrue and that the company would “defend them vigorously”. It added that Media Square had yet to set out the legal basis for its claims “despite repeated requests”.

Wright joined Porta – formerly the TSE Group – in November last year. He is the former CEO of Incepta, some of whose agencies were acquired by Media Square after its merger with Huntsworth in 2005. In 2009 Wright was put forward as a possible candidate for director of Media Square by a group of minority shareholders intending to oust the company’s chairman.