London - based marketing and communications group Incepta is believed to have been the party involved in the aborted purchase of Murray Consultants last week. Murray Consultants is one of the largest and best-known public relations firms in the State.
Incepta, which has a market capitalisation of almost £116 million sterling (€182.23 million), is thought to have indicated a willingness to pay more than €20 million for the Dublin firm.
Talks are thought to have reached a very advanced level before breaking down over a matter of detail.
A major player with more than 2,000 staff and 69 international offices, operating under the Citigate brand, Incepta is one of the world's fastest growing communications groups.
Believed to be among the last big players not to have entered the Irish market, it is said to have worked on many occasions in the past with Murray Consultants.
A Belfast operation, Burnside-Citigate, is run by the public relations executive Mr Alan Burnside.
International public relations groups already operating in the Republic include Fleishman, Weber Shandwick and Cordiant, all of which have bought into the Irish market through acquisition in recent years.
With revenues of £269.62 million in the year to the end of last February - up from £16.8 million in 1997 - the Incepta group has deep pockets.
Operating profits grew in the same period, but fell in the last year to £13.92 million from £27.3 million a year earlier after exceptional restructuring costs of £8.52 million.
It warned investors last month that a modest second-half recovery it had expected would be slower to materialise as market and investor confidence had waned.
The group wanted additional annual savings of £1 million, mainly by cutting property and related costs, but would have to take an additional restructuring charge of up to £2 million to achieve the savings.
It is not known whether that development had an impact on the talks with Murray Consultants. An Incepta spokesman said it would never comment on what it described as market speculation.
One of the two principals in Murray Consultants, Mr Jim Milton, also declined to comment. He had said the company was not for sale and that a new generation of in-house directors would grow the business in the future.
However, informed individuals believe a sale was imminent.
Murray Consultants, which has numerous blue-chip clients, would have provided a significant entrée into the market for Incepta. The company was established in 1974 by Mr Joe Murray, its other principal.
Like Murray Consultants, which has a reputation for professionalism and many competencies, Incepta has a large range of interests in many disciplines.These include: financial and corporate advertising; business intelligence; financial public relations and investor relations; public affairs; marketing intelligence; design and branding; sponsorship; and specialist communications.
Incepta claims to act for about 3,250 clients worldwide, including a number in the FTSE 100, Eurotop 300 and Global Fortune 500 companies.
