Mark Kleinman

June 04, 2011 7:48 PM

Aegis Group, the London-listed marketing services supplier, is in talks about a sale of Synovate, its market research arm, in a deal that could be worth £500m.

I have learned that Aegis has been approached by several potential buyers, one of which is Ipsos, the French market research group.

The City has been anticipating for some time that Aegis would sell Synovate and return the proceeds to shareholders. Two weeks ago, when I put to the company that it was in talks to do just that, it denied it.

Aegis, which declined to comment this evening, is likely to come under pressure to issue a statement to the stock exchange on Monday that it is in early-stage talks about a disposal of Synovate.

The company is being advised by Greenhill, the investment bank, on the talks, which sources close to Aegis may not lead to a deal.

The interest in Synovate underlines the appetite for consolidation in market research, one of the faster-growing areas of the global marketing services industry, which encompasses everything from advertising to direct marketing and public relations.