HEDGE funds and private equity firms are said to be lining up bids for M&C Saatchi as the City prepares to pounce on the embattled advertising agency.

Asset management firm Dbay Advisors, which holds a controlling stake in Eddie Stobart, and Exponent, which owns publishing firm Dennis, are among the suitors circling the agency.

Any successful bidder would seek to install new management in a bid to stabilise the company, the Sunday Times reported.

Shares in M&C Saatchi plunged in December after the firm issued a major profit warning and revealed an £11.6m hole in its finances. The scandal prompted the resignation of Lord Maurice Saatchi, who founded the advertising stalwart. Three other board members also stepped down.

YouGov chairman Roger Parry is also said to have canvassed potential backers as part of a separate plan to overhaul the group's management. But existing investors are thought to be unlikely to agree to any deal to take M&C Saatchi private. Shares in the company are now trading at roughly 71p, down from 365p a year ago.

(c) 2020 City A.M., source Newspaper