End of an era: WPP AUNZ to exit ASX at end of business today
May 19, 2021 10:37
In May 2016 STW Group and WPP received the final tick of approval from shareholders to merge, thus eliminating the STW name from the Australian media and advertising landscape.
At the time, the $512 million takeover by WPP was being billed as a “merger of the two businesses”. Almost 432 million shares in STW were assumed by WPP, creating a new business to be known as WPP AUNZ.
Today, the legacy of STW and WPP AUNZ ends, with WPP AUNZ to be delisted from Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) “from the close of trading on Wednesday, 19 May 2021”. STW was first floated as John Singleton Advertising in 1993. It later became Singleton Tate WPP (STW) Group after the initial buy in by WPP.
Steggall ends budget week with Olympian Blue Mountains effort
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Zali Steggall is no slouch. The independent MP for Warringah and slayer of former prime minister
Tony Abbott took on the daunting UTA100 ultra-marathon trail race through the Blue Mountains over the weekend.
The 100-kilometre track through the mountain range had a combined elevation gain of 4460 metres through the Golden Stairs, Leura Forest and Wentworth Falls.
Zali Steggall and Andrew Leigh.
Credit:John Shakespeare
Steggall started the event at 6.30am on Saturday and finished at 3.24am on Sunday, completing the last 40 kilometres in the dark, including the infamous Furber Steps, a 15-kilometre stretch involving 956 steps. It was mission accomplished in 20 hours and three minutes.
Tuesday will be a sad day for famed ad man
John Singleton. Thatâs when the ad agency empire he created â which started with John Singleton Advertising and grew into the STW conglomerate before merging with WPP to form the locally listed WPP AUNZ â will be swallowed up completely by the London-based parent WPP plc.
Itâs the advertising equivalent of the foreign Campbellâs soup company taking over Arnottâs. In other words, a tragedy for the once unassailable Aussie agency. Whoâs to blame?
Fingers are pointed at the lacklustre local board, headed by
Robert Mactier. Mactier wrote a note to staff last week as the local board headed off into oblivion âsaying a big thank youâ for the contribution everyone had made to the business and âhelping guide the board and senior leadership along our journeyâ.
WPP AUNZ chair Robert Mactier on what next for the group post takeover
April 22, 2021 11:51
Industry leaders have speculated to Mumbrella that with the dissolution of the board, Jens Monsees’ role as WPP AUNZ CEO and managing director will be drawn into question. No outposts of WPP plc have CEOs, but instead have country managers, and transitioning Monsees into a country manager seems unlikely.
Sources believe that Jens will leave the business, and instead a member of the WPP team from London will be ‘parachuted in’, to take up a country manager role.
Robert Mactier
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Speaking to Mumbrella, chair of the WPP AUNZ board Robert Mactier said no decisions about the senior leadership team have been set in stone and reiterated that the business under Monsees’ leadership has achieved great success in financially turning its financial situation around against the backdrop of COVID-19, and that recent changes made under the group’s transformation strategy have had
Minority shareholders of WPP AUNZ vote in favour of WPP plc takeover
April 21, 2021 11:28
The shareholders of WPP AUNZ have voted in favour of the takeover bid from WPP plc this morning, meaning the global company will become the sole owner of the local agency holding group, acquiring the remaining 38.5% of shares in the company it did not previously own.
Shareholders who held their share on the total dividend record date of 31 March 2021 will be paid $0.70 per share, as offered in December as an update to WPP plc’s bid, less the value of the special dividend of $0.044 per share fully franked paid at the end of March.