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Saudi Tihama, UK-based WPP delay merger agreement until mid-2022

Saudi Tihama, UK-based WPP delay merger agreement until mid-2022
(Reuters)
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Updated 09 January 2022

Saudi Tihama, UK-based WPP delay merger agreement until mid-2022

Saudi Tihama, UK-based WPP delay merger agreement until mid-2022
  • The Saudi company said the completion of transferring legal ownership and acquiring all necessary approvals will be done beforeÌýJuneÌý30

RIYADH: ÂÜÀòÊÓÆµâ€™s Tihama Advertising and Public Relations Co. and UK-based WPP plc have delayed their agreement to create a Bahrain-based holding group via a merger until mid-2022.

The Saudi company said the completion of transferring legal ownership and acquiring all necessary approvals will be done beforeÌýJuneÌý30, instead of Dec. 31 last year.

Under the deal, which was announced in July 2021, Tihama associateÌýJ. Walter Thompson MENA is merging with Wunderman MENA to createÌýWunderman Thompson MENA in Bahrain.

Tihama will own 25 percent of the new Bahraini entity once the merger is complete, it said.

This decision followsÌýa global merger between J. Walter Thompson and Wunderman into Wunderman Thompson in 2018.

Wunderman Thompson MENAÌýis expected to have over 800 employees, with offices in Dubai, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia, along with ÂÜÀòÊÓÆµ.

WPP already serves a wide range of global and local clients in the Middle East and has 100,000 employees worldwide with $17.9 billion in revenues, according to the statement.

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