Havas-Aegis Deal Starts to Take Shape; GfK Will "Take a Look''

(MoneyWatch)  The deal for the break up of Aegis and its absorption by Havas seems to be shaping up. According to Brand Republic, the Synovate market research unit of Aegis is being prepped for sale. (The bank doing the pimping is Merrill Lynch, according to MRWeb.)

The remainder of Aegis, its media buying operations, will then be absorbed into Havas. Havas boss Vincent Bollore is preparing a 90p per share bid for Aegis, but he will wait until the Synovate part has been acquired by someone else.

Possible buyers for Synovate are GfK and venture capital group Apax Partners. Per BR:

A GfK spokesman said: "If Synovate comes up for sale we will take a look. We have authorised capital to spend and a debt structure that would enable us to raise further capital."

London's analysts expect the deal to go through -- shares of Aegis were rising as analysts at Teathers repeated their buy rating on the stock.

• Previous BNET coverage of the Aegis-Havas Deal:

• The Havas-Aegis Deal Worst-Case Scenario
• Ranking Agency Networks By Efficiency Shows Some Surprises
• With CEO Out, Wall Street and Havas Plot Demise of Aegis