Bidding war for Cordiant hots up

WPP Group was ‘making good progress’, as Design Week went to press, on its final bid for the debt-ridden Cordiant Communications Group, with a fuller announcement expected by the end of the week.

The Fitch London Group, still seen as one of the jewels in CCG’s tarnished crown, is regarded as a prize asset by WWP head Sir Martin Sorrell.

An approach by French group Publicis, which would have involved CCG going into administration and the Fitch brand being hived off to a US hedge fund, is believed to have been rebuffed.

The London Stock Exchange suspended CCG’s shares on Monday at the company’s request, after a fevered weekend of press speculation about the bidding war.