Publicis Groupe announces 3.9mn shares buyback from Dentsu!

Following the proposal made by Dentsu, on February 15, 2013 prior to the opening of the Paris Stock Market, Publicis Groupe [EURONEXT Paris : FR0000130577] completed a buyback of a block of approximately 3.9 million shares for a total price of 181.4 million euros, i.e., 46.82 euros per share.

The Supervisory Board  studied the Management Board’s proposal to proceed with the buyback during its meeting on February 13, 2013.  The Supervisory Board concluded that the purchase of approximately 3.9 million shares, pursuant to the buyback program approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders of May 29, 2012, would be positive for the Group and for its shareholders as a whole. The Supervisory Board accordingly unanimously approved the proposed transaction. The repurchase was made at a 4.7% discount of the February 14, 2013 closing price of Publicis Groupe’s shares at 49.11 euros.  It will have a positive impact of approximately 1.5% on diluted earnings per share in 2013 and of 1.7% on a full-year basis.

The 3,875,139 shares acquired in the transaction will be held as treasury stock and will be used for attendance and performance share awards or stock options schemes.

The purchase was funded entirely from Publicis Groupe’s available funds.

Following the termination in February 2012 of the shareholder agreement between Dentsu and Mrs. Badinter, and the concomitant sale of the bulk of Dentsu’s stake in Publicis Groupe (18 million
shares), the transaction comprises of all of the remaining shares held by Dentsu.

The two groups will continue to consider all opportunities for collaboration and to maintain cooperative relations, and the two joint ventures between Dentsu and Publicis Groupe (Beacon Communications and Dentsu Razorfish) are expected to continue without change.