WPP to sell Kantar in an auction this month

WPP has started this month the sale of Kantar. Kantar's sale starts with an auction led by Goldman Sachs. Banking sources told Reuters they are lining up more than 2 billion euros in debt to finance the acquisition. First-round bids are expected to be placed on an auction process this month.

Kantar is a research, data, insights and consulting company. Kantar employs 30,000 persons worldwide. Kantar is being allowed by walled gardens, like Facebook and Youtube, to do independent measurement for brands.

According to The Drum, last month, the CEO of WPP, Mark Read, said that WPP wants to retain between 25%-40% of Kantar, in an ideal scenario. "Maybe emotionally I would have preferred to keep it inside WPP but rationally there’s a lot to do and this is the right way to go about releasing that value," said Read, speaking at Advertising Week Europe.