The incoming non-executive chair of M&C Saatchi has built up a stake in the advertising company ahead of joining its board this summer.
Zillah Byng-Thorne has bought 143,536 ordinary shares in the company at an average price of 174p per share, amounting to a 0.12 per cent stake, M&C Saatchi told investors on Monday.
Byng-Thorne, the former chair of Wallpaper and Homes & Garden publisher Future, will succeed Gareth Davis following his retirement at the company’s annual general meeting in mid-June.
Incoming chair Zillah Byng-Thorne has built a 0.1% stake in M&C Saatchi
M&C rejected a takeover offer from AdvancedAdvT in May last year and removed Vin Murria, its biggest shareholder, from its board the following month.
Shareholders in the advertising company later also voted against a takeover by marketing group Next Fifteen, despite having initially backed it.
At the time, M&C said that its directors looked forward ‘to continuing the implementation of M&C Saatchi’s strategy as an independent business’.
Last week, the company reported a 75 per cent slump in pre-tax statutory profit for 2022, which it said was mostly due to £10.8million of ‘one-off defence costs’ related to the failed takeover bids.
However, revenues surged 8.7 per cent to £271.1 million as M&C won several new accounts, including drinks giant Diageo, dating app Tinder and luxury house LVMH.
M&C Saatchi shares were 0.9 per cent higher at 174p in early trade on Monday.
The stock has recovered ground since the start of the year, rising by about 15 per cent, but remains down by around 4 per cent compared to 12 months ago.
Saatchi was founded in 1995 by brothers Maurice and Charles Saatchi after the pair were ousted from the agency they started 25 years previously, Saatchi & Saatchi.
Known for close ties to the Conservative Party, its clients have included some major corporate names, ranging from retail giant Amazon, to fashion brands Burberry and Hugo Boss and Dutch flagship airline KLM.
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