The Week; WPP, Grey redo deadline proviso.(Briefs: Grey Global Group Inc.)

Advertising Age, December, 2004

WPP Group and Grey Global Group pushed back the date when either side can call off the engagement if marriage plans run into trouble. U.K.-based WPP, the No. 2 advertising holding company, agreed Sept. 11 to buy New York-based Grey, the industry's No. 7 firm, in a deal initially valued at $1.52 billion in cash and WPP stock. Under that pact, either side could cancel the deal if it hadn't closed by nine months later-June 11, 2005. Under revised terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 1, either side can walk away if the deal hasn't closed after 11 months-Aug. 11. WPP declined to comment, but the change in terms likely is tied to an antitrust review. The change came a week after the deal ran into an unexpected obstacle when the European Commission,...

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