Sir Martin Sorrell is closer to achieving his goal of establishing a standalone marketing venture following his acrimonious departure from WPP, after securing £100m in funding for S4 Capital. The significant sum is boosted by a further £50m in debt funding, offering a springboard for Sorrell in his bid to forge a challenger marketing firm specialising in technology, data and content. Despite the significance of the sums involved, questions have been raised as to why S4 Capital had fallen short of its stated aim of raising £150m in equity, with sources informing The Times that it was common to forward fund new ventures through a combination of debt and equity. Allegations of personal misconduct leveled against Sorrell had threatened to undermine his comeback hopes but he received an important message of support at the weekend from Keith Weed, marketing chief at Unilever, who told The Sunday Times: “Martin has just announced what he is doing, so I’ll wait and see what it is. But as far as I’m concerned, I will work with the best in any market.” Sorrell has also pumped £40m of his own personal wealth into the business, leveraging a further £11m from other investors having stated categorically that he is not yet ready for retirement.
Sir Martin Sorrell has raised £100m ($132m) in funding for his new marketing venture S4 Capital. Sorrell, who recently had a acrimonious departure from WPP, is seeking to build a challenger marketing company specialising in technology, data and content. The money has been boosted by another £50m in debt funding. In the UK, there are currently three major players in this space: Google, Facebook and Twitter. 40m of his own money into the business, with an additional £11m from other investors who say the former WPP CEO is not yet ready for retirement.