TBWA and Beattie McGuinness Bungay have stated that they are no longer involved in acquisition talks.

Speculation has been building for several weeks that TBWA was poised to buy BMB. The latter was launched by former TBWA executives Trevor Beattie and Andrew McGuinness (pictured) in 2005.

TBWA president international Keith Smith says:"Holdings companies and agencies often talk to potential acquisition targets and this is no different, except for the fact that Trevor and Andrew are old friends. We are concentrating on building our business on the back of the successful new business pitches that TBWA has had in the past 3 months, National Express and Sony Retail."
 
Andrew McGuinness of BMB adds: "We'll always have a soft spot for TBWA, but this wasn't the right time for us, our team and our clients at this time."

TBWA London has been through a period of upheaval since the departure of the BMB founders and creative director Steve Henry, previously of HHCL, recently left the agency.