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Publicis denies M&A talks following stock jump

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Publicis group is seen at the high profile startups and high tech leaders gathering, Viva Tech,in Paris, France May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - A spokeswoman for Publicis denied on Friday that the French advertising group was holding any kind of merger talks after a report by British trade publication Campaign triggered a sharp jump in its share price.

Publicis’ stock surged by as much as 7% after Campaign reported that the group had held talks with a potential private equity investor.

Traders said that had triggered the sharp gains in Publicis’ stock.

“There are no talks of any sort going on,” a spokeswoman for Publicis told Reuters.

The stock subsequently trimmed gains to 3.5% at 44.3 euros by 1429 GMT.

Reporting by Julien Ponthus, Thyagaraju Adinarayan and and Pamela Barbaglia; Editing by Mathieu Rosemain and Elaine Hardcastle

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