M&C Saatchi bolsters board as bidders line up after accountancy crisis
M&C Saatchi today said it has appointed two independent non-executive directors amid reports that potential suitors are lining up bids for the troubled advertising agency.
Lisa Gordon and Louise Jackson will join the board with immediate effect, the company said.
Gordon currently holds non-executive director positions at foreign exchange specialist Apha FX and children’s TV and film production firm Magic Light Pictures.
Jackson serves as group director of talent and leadership at luxury retailer Selfridges, where she also sits on the remuneration committee.
The appointment of two women to the advertising agency follows criticism of the company’s all-male board.
Boss David Kershaw has previously defended the firm’s management make-up, telling Campaign magazine in 2016 that “making grand gestures like making a woman a non-exec isn’t going to change the world”.
M&C Saatchi has set about bolstering its board after an accounting error in December caused its share price to crash and prompted a boardroom exodus.
The firm has already appointed former Imperial Brands chief executive Gareth Davis as deputy chairman and tapped media veteran Colin Jones to chair its audit committee.
The ad agency, which was founded by Lord Maurice Saatchi, said it plans to appoint one more non-executive director.
Founder Saatchi was among the high-profile names to step down last year after the company admitted an £11.6m hole in its finances.
The scandal has sparked speculation that M&C Saatchi could be vulnerable to a takeover by a hedge fund or private equity firm.
Asset management firm Dbay Advisors, which took a controlling stake in Eddie Stobart in December, and Exponent, which owns publishing firm Dennis, are reportedly among the suitors lining up bids.