Having previously announced that it was changing its acceptance condition of the offer from 90% to 75%, the takeover of TNS should be completed by the end of the month at an expected cost of close to 1.2 billion pounds. But little will change for TNS-ILReS, says its general director.

Sir Martin Sorell’s WPP first approached TNS back in May, when the market research company was holding merger negotiation with German group GfK, based in Nuremberg. Even after those negotiations collapsed, TNS continued to stall on the WPP offer. However, TNS CEO Donald Brydon has since advised remaining shareholders to take up the WPP offer – which is valid until 22 October – and indicated that even TNS board members would be tendering their shares.

Trade publication AdWeek claims that when the takeover is completed, WPP Group will become the number-one ad agency holding company. “Based on full-year pro forma 2007 figures, the combined WPP-TNS revenue total is approximately 14 billion USD,” says the publication’s Steve McLellan.

Competition Commissioner clears deal

In September the European Commission cleared the acquisition subject to certain conditions. WPP has offered to divest TNS' market research services in Ireland, and to allay concerns for Television Audience Measurement services at the EEA level, to divest either WPP's shares in its joint venture AGB Nielsen or the Television Audience Measurement services business of TNS. “I am satisfied that WPP's commitments will ensure that customers will not suffer as a result of this merger in terms of reduced choice or higher prices as regards both TV audience measurement throughout the EEA and market research in Ireland,” said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

A press release has confirmed that TNS will remain a distinct brand under a new parent company at WPP, managed by the group’s Kantar subsidiary. In Luxembourg, TNS has been in partnership with ILReS since 1999 and is the largest market research group in the country. “If the GfK deal had gone ahead, much would have changed. We would have operated under the GfK name,” says TNS-ILReS director Louis Mevis. “But as Kantar already has two research companies, Milward Brown and Research International, we expect to continue to operate under the TNS name. In Luxembourg not much will change on an operational level, as neither of the other Kantar companies is present on the market.”