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WPP plans US expansion as it ‘eyes’ New York listing


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WPP is “looking” at changing its main listing in New York, according to chief executive Mark Read, who will pursue opportunities to take advantage of the “resurgence” in the US when Donald Trump re-enters the White House.

Bala told the Financial Times that this was the year of the London-based internet network to start devoting its operations to AI, money growth and – despite his worries about health the beauty of the UK market – its share price.

“We have to drive high-level growth to drive the share price – I’m very focused on that,” Bala said in an interview at his Southbank London office, outlining plans for up to $100mn in additional investment. of AI to run both. innovation and productivity across its sectors.

“As a leadership team, we have a plan. We know what to do. And 2025 is the year of execution, and especially in AI. ”

Read said WPP was looking at moving its core inventory to the US, adding: “It’s something we’re always looking at.” Although it has no plans to do so now, he pointed out that “some managers who have transferred their list to the US have had a good experience”.

The market is closely watching Read’s next steps, with discussions among business advisers and industry rivals about growing pressure on the chief executive following the arrival of the former BT boss. Phillip Jansen like a chair three weeks ago.

A line chart of share prices based on pence showing that WPP and Publicis shares differ

WPP’s shares have fallen by a tenth in the past month, and are now worth less than a third of what Read took in 2018. The share price of its French rival Publicis has nearly doubled over the period. the same.

Meanwhile, WPP’s two biggest US players – Omnicom and IPG – last month revealed. integration plans creating a heavy advertising single, based in New York.

Bala said that while major deals in terms of Omnicom-IPG were “obviously something we are considering”, he would not have pursued such a tie-up. “We would be better off investing in what we have instead of going through a big merger,” he said.

He also saw the meeting as an opportunity, suggesting that the timing of WPP’s development signaled an impending disruption to its US rivals. “I have the scars of a merger battle over the last six years,” said Read, pointing to the challenges of merging companies that involve many marketing and PR agencies.

“There will be three big players in our industry. None of us are very different in size and stature from the others,” he said. And while the scale was pretty good for media buying and planning jobs, he added, “it wasn’t entirely clear to me that scale and creativity were two words. who always go together”.

Read has faced criticism from some staff over a plan announced last week to bring people back to the office. four days a week. But he said: “Ogilvy in New York is one of our best performing agencies. It’s full – busy and fun – you can feel the energy. And I’m sure those things are related. ”

People work on laptop computers in an office space shared by WPP Group M agencies in the Playa Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles.
WPP announced a new policy last week that will require workers to return to the office four days a week © Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

Bala said the US, where it has about 38 percent of its business, will be a key growth area for WPP, including M&A projects focused on data and technology services to provide the largest presence in the world’s largest advertising market.

“With Trump’s presidency, there is an increase in business confidence in the US,” he noted, noting the “feelings of desire and growth in the US” that also translated into how well their companies are doing how much in the stock market.

The UK government needed to “get down” on how to provide the cash flow the FTSE 100 needed, he said, noting how the devaluation of London-listed companies had been ” the biggest ever in history”.

“It drives M&A and the reduction of the number of listed companies,” he added.

This created a challenge, he said, for the UK as a whole. “We have to approach: WPP as a US company and the UK as a US country.”

Amazon's presentation during the 2025 CES event in Las Vegas
Some of the largest US technology companies such as Amazon are WPP clients © Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg

WPP counts some of the biggest US technology companies as clients – including the acquisition of Amazon’s media business outside the US last year – but has been hit by declining revenue. of using advertising in this sector. However, he said “in the long run, those companies will change the world”.

He also noted how Trump in a short period of time has brought about a cultural change in the United States: “An amazing example of the changes in Meta in the last six weeks. They can see the way the wind is blowing.”

Advertisers were also returning to X, the social networking site owned by Trump friend Elon Musk. “The content rate change (to) Meta – which is closely related to X – probably helps that,” he said.

Looking ahead, he said he hoped to deliver revenue growth this year, with plans to spend between £50mn and £100mn more by 2024 on an AI platform being developed for employees. 100,000 of the group.

“We have a lot of new business opportunities,” Bala said. “We’re very confident about where we are with our investment in AI, and I think we’ll see a better year in 2025 than we did in 2024.”



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