One of Three to Pay £350m+ for NOP

United Business Media (UBM) will offer exclusive talks to one of the three remaining bidders for NOP World, according to the UK's Financial Times. The three are GfK, Ipsos and the WPP Group - Aegis and TNS were recently eliminated from the bidding.

According to the FT, GfK's excellent results from last year, announced this week, could enable it to outbid the other two for the business. However, DRNO notes that all three companies have recently announced strong results and is interested to see Ipsos, touted early on as the favourite by some observers, still in the running and with a strong offer backed up by long-term growth.

A price tag of £350m+ now seems likely, described by analysts as a 'very good' price for the company and much higher than the initial finger-in-the-wind suggestions, perhaps reflecting the buoyant state of the market - most of the leading global groups have reported good results in the past month or so. According to the FT, Ipsos may have offered £355m and GfK around £360m. Dow Jones today also reported that final round offers were in excess of £350m.

UBM is online at www.unitedbusinessmedia.com , and the three contenders at www.gfk.com , www.ipsos.com and www.wpp.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.