London close: Economists nudge GDP forecasts higher
23rd Aug 2013 16:26
Equities moved moderately higher on the second to last Friday of the summer despite economic figures out in the afternoon which revealed a far larger than expected fall in new US home sales. Somewhat ironically, at least for now that won equity markets a small reprieve from the recent incessant cl
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Croda International, WPP, Aggreko
23rd Aug 2013 14:03
Specialty chemical maker Croda International surged after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' on expectations that top-line growth will pick up. WPP rallied after the advertising agency said its data investment business Kantar acquired The Benenson Strategy Group, a research and c
Read moreWPP's Kantar snaps up Obama polling firm Benenson
23rd Aug 2013 11:20
WPP said its investment management business Kantar had bought Benenson Strategy Group, a US strategic research and consulting firm founded and run by President Obama's top campaign pollster. Chief Executive Officer Joel Benenson, who set up the company in 2000 with Chief Operating Officer Carl Ross
Read moreWPP acquires corporate communications agency
19th Aug 2013 10:16
WPP-owned communications agency, Addison Corp. Marketing, has acquired a majority stake in Emaxol, the holding company of IR Group, an online corporate communications agency. The 65-employee group has clients which include Tesco, BG Group, Centrica, Kingfisher, InterContinental Hotels Group, and T
Read moreWPP expands position in Argentina with latest acquisition
19th Aug 2013 09:27
WPP's activation agency, Geometry Global, has acquired a majority stake in Brandigital, a digital agency in Latin America. The firm, which works with clients in social media, e-commerce, and mobile, generated revenue of AR$19.3m (around £2.21m) for 2012. The Argentine company employs 110 works a
Read moreShare tips: WPP, Balfour Beatty, Centrica, Drax
18th Aug 2013 14:27
The displacement of WPP as the world's biggest advertising agency by the merger of Omnicom and Publicis could be good news for WPP, Simon Duke wrote in the Sunday Times' Inside the City column. WPP, led by Martin Sorrell, earns more from from fast-growing emerging economies and digital ads than its
Read moreWPP's JWT takes majority stake in South Korean digital agency
16th Aug 2013 11:33
WPP said its unit JWT had agreed to buy a majority stake in South Korean digital agency Post Visual which counts Nike, eBay and Google among its clients. It is the latest in a long string of acquisitive deals announced by the advertising giant this month. Seoul-based Post Visual was founded in 20
Read moreFriday broker round-up UPDATE
16th Aug 2013 08:52
African Minerals: Barclays initiates with a target price of 220p and an underweight rating. Aviva: Exane downgrades to neutral with a target price of 403p. Avon Rubber: Investec ups target price from 470p to 500p, but downgrades from add to hold. AZ Electronic Materials: Deutsche Bank reduces tar
Read moreWPP takes minority stake in US outfit Mutual Mobile
15th Aug 2013 17:07
WPP Digital, the digital investment arm of advertising and public relations company WPP, has bought a minority stake in US group Mutual Mobile for an undisclosed sum. Mutual Mobile builds technology products for customers to improve communication and transactions across any mobile devices and all o
Read moreWPP takes majority stake in Brazilian consultancy
9th Aug 2013 09:33
WPP has bolstered its presence in Brazil after its operating company Millward Brown bought a majority stake in a branding valuation consultancy in the country. Based in Sao Paolo in Brazil, BrandAnalytics only employs 12 people but its clients include US retail giant Walmart and Spanish banking gr
Read moreWPP announces two new acquisitions
8th Aug 2013 10:04
FTSE 100 group WPP has acquired a minority stake in SecondSync, an early-stage social TV business, through its wholly-owned data investment management business, Kantar. SecondSync, which has a client list that includes Channel 4, ITV, BBC, Shine and MediaCom, has been acquired to strengthen Kantar
Read moreWPP agency acquires 'demand generation' firm
6th Aug 2013 11:57
Media megalith WPP has announced that its key Ogilvy & Mather agency has acquired a majority stake of Verticurl, a demand generation and marketing automation services firm in Singapore. Ogilvy's customer engagement division, OgilvyOne, will take control of a company that employs more than 160 peopl
Read moreBroker tips: WPP, Next, Weir
30th Jul 2013 11:18
Nomura has maintained its 'buy' rating and 1,300p target price for advertising and media group WPP, saying that the tie-up of rival firms Publicis and Omnicom could be good for the UK-listed company. While the merged company will have a dominant positive in the creative and marking services industr
Read moreBroker snap: Publicis-Omnicom merger positive for WPP, says Nomura
30th Jul 2013 09:37
Nomura has maintained its 'buy' rating and 1,300p target price for advertising and media group WPP, saying that the tie-up of rival firms Publicis and Omnicom could be good for the UK-listed company. The $35bn merger between Publicis and Omnicom will hold the dominant positive in the creative and m
Read moreLondon open: Analysts challenge consensus forecasts for Fed and China
29th Jul 2013 08:15
According to the Financial Times European demand for oil is is rising for the first time in two years, possibly indicating increased economic activity. Yet that may not be the only thing which has been on the increase of late. Thus, and for the first time in a quite a bit, investors have awoken on
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