Will Sir Martin Sorrell win Cordiant?

The move appears to have thwarted an attempt by French rival Publicis and US hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management to take control of Cordiant's assets.

The two companies had reportedly attempted to push Cordiant into administration and share the firm's assets between themselves.

Cordiant's financial troubles stemmed from a sharp downturn in advertising spending by major firms as the global economy slowed.

The firm's shares plummeted in April after it said it had lost the account of one of its biggest remaining global clients, Allied Domecq.

No bidding war

Weekend press reports said Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group had offered a bid worth �266m for Cordiant.

The Reuters news agency reported a source close to the talks as saying that details of WPP's bid were likely to be released by the end of the week.

Publicis said it would not try to beat WPP's bid as it did not want to be dragged into a bidding war.

"I did not want to engage Publicis in a course of overbidding, and considered that our last offer was fair and reasonable," said Publicis' chief executive Maurice Levy.

Cordiant's largest shareholder, Active Value, had opposed both the administration plan and WPP's takeover bid.

It wanted to sack Cordiant's board and install its own management.

And it denied reports that it was now considering teaming up with WPP.

"We are looking for the best way to get value for shareholders, and that means keeping Cordiant out of administration," an Active Value spokesman said.