M&C Saatchi accepts £310m takeover by Next Fifteen

M&C Saatchi’s chairman, Gareth Davis, said the offer was ‘far superior’ to ADV’s. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

The digital marketing group Next Fifteen has struck a £310m deal to buy M&C Saatchi, gazumping the tech entrepreneur Vin Murria’s takeover attempt, and ending almost three decades of independence of one of Britain’s most famous advertising agencies.

London-listed Next Fifteen, which has a £1.2bn market valuation, has tabled a cash and share offer for M&C Saatchi valuing the company at 247p a share that it aims to seal through a scheme of arrangement.