Vin Murria’s bid for M&C Saatchi is her most daring yet

theguardian.com:

Days after starting her first job in the male-dominated tech industry, a then 22-year-old Vin Murria was told she would never be successful because she was young, female and Asian.

Fast forward four decades and Vinodka (or Vin) Murria’s career highlights include the creation of three tech companies that reached a “unicorn” valuation of about $1bn (£820m). For her latest challenge, she is fighting the Mad Men of Soho in a rollercoaster takeover battle to buy M&C Saatchi, the advertising agency that created the 1997 “Demon Eyes” poster for the Conservatives.

She still knows the person that told her she wouldn’t make it. “Whenever I meet that person now, I say, ‘Guess what? I’ve fixed one of those. I’m not so young any more’.”

Murria, 60, has made a series of offers for M&C Saatchi, where she is the largest shareholder and until recently was deputy chair. However, its board is resistant, having overseen a recovery trajectory that includes reporting the best profits in its 27-year history last year.

In May, chairman Gareth Davis rejected her fourth offer in almost as many months as “derisory”. She is dangling a £254m deal mostly in shares in her London-listed AdvancedAdvT takeover vehicle.

Shortly after, M&C Saatchi approved a £310m takeover from rival agency Next Fifteen. However, in the latest twist, M&C reversed that decision, announcing on Friday it no longer regarded the terms as “fair and reasonable”. The bid was a mixture of cash and Next Fifteen shares, and its value has fallen after tens of millions were wiped from the bidder’s share price in the latest stock-market rout.

Murria and AdvancedAdvT, which is backed by private equity group Marwyn, control 22% of M&C Saatchi and claim to have secured the backing of other