WPP unveils details of its Tempus counterbid

Chris Ingram, the chairman of the Tempus group, would become the

co-chairman of Group MindShare Edge with Beth Gordon chairman of The

Media Edge, if the bid goes through.

GME would form the top layer of management. It would sit above the

merged TME and CIA, and above WPP's MindShare.

WPP-owned TME's merger with Tempus' CIA would create the world's

fourth-largest media network with annual billings of £10

billion.

WPP insiders claim that this would be a more significant role for Ingram

than the Havas proposal in which Ingram would join Media Planning

Group's chairman, Leopoldo Rodes Castane, as the co-chairman of the

enlarged MPG with a place on the Havas board of directors.

Under the WPP proposal, Tempus' chief executive, David Reich, would take

the number-two spot as vice-chairman of GME while Irwin Gotlieb would

stay as chairman of MindShare and become chief executive of GME.

In a surprise move, Charles Courtier, the chief executive of TME, would

be elevated to chairman of the merged TME/ CIA agency while CIA

Worldwide's chief executive, Mainardo de Nardis, would only get the

chief executive role.

MindShare would remain as a separate entity with Gotlieb as chairman and

Dominic Proctor as chief executive.

WPP, which already owns a 22 per cent stake in Tempus, launched the

counter-bid, which could scupper rival Havas' takeover plans, last week.

It offered 555p cash per Tempus share, just 3 per cent higher than

Havas' original bid of 541p. This was a lower bid than analysts

expected.

The document outlines the financial impact of the proposal saying that

the stronger purchasing power of TME/CIA and GME would make it the

second-largest buying group globally and give TME/CIA the ability to

better service clients in territories such as Latin America and parts of

Europe.

The three managers of Tempus' branding division - Mark Sherrington,

Peter Dart and David Wheldon - would play a key role in WPP's combined

strategic marketing consultancy business.