Chemistry’s long-awaited sell-off appears to be sealed after its board of directors recommended shareholders accept a £14.45m cash offer from Publicis.
The agency, whose clients include Orange, Unilever and Tesco, was first put up for sale over three years ago, and at one stage had two potential suitors – at the time, Publicis was understood be one of them.
The offer has already been accepted and Chemistry shareholders will get 37p per share. Yesterday’s closing price was 15.75p on the London Plus Stock Exchange.
The agency has 178 staff and offers advertising, digital, direct and promotional marketing. The wider group includes a publishing and events company specialising in IT, as well as a digital agency.
Chemistry chairman Joe Garton (pictured) and managing director Diane Charlton are to join the Publicis Group UK senior management team.
It is not known whether the agency will fold into Publicis Dialog, although it is reported that Chemistry’s expertise in digital CRM and data analytics are viewed as an “attractive opportunity”.
Chemistry was launched in the late Nineties as The Interactive Agency. It changed its name to Chemistry in July 2002, although this sparked legal action from an agency operating out of Ireland which had the same name. The dispute was settled out of court later in the year.
