Brave Bison has walked away from a potential takeover of online marketing firm, The Mission Group, after the firm rejected an improved bid last week.

The London-based firm, which owns the Social Chain agency founded by Steven Bartlett, proposed a £32.3m bid for Mission, having had its previous offer of £27m turned down.

In a statement by Brave Bison, it said it had offered 13.9 pence per share for the firm, while also including a partial cash alternative of up to 50% of the offer value.

Furthermore, it added its intention to pay down a portion of Mission’s £26.8m in net debt to create a "substantial capital structure for the enlarged company".

However, Brave Bison stated: "The Mission board, led by the chairman, rejected Brave Bison's attempts for constructive dialogue and chose not to provide access to due diligence information or key management personnel. Further, the Mission board has not offered an extension to the PUSU deadline by which Brave Bison would be required to make a firm offer for Mission.

"The board of Brave Bison is disappointed by the lack of engagement from the Mission board and does not believe that the Mission board's strategy to deleverage the business will deliver value for Mission shareholders in excess of the revised proposal."

In a statement, Mission Group added: "The board of Mission is confident in Mission's standalone prospects. As previously announced on 17 January 2024, the board of Mission has set out how it expects to realise value for Mission's shareholders through its standalone strategy and execution of the group's value restoration plan, which is now well underway. The board of Mission also remains confident that during the remainder of the year, it will deliver on its plan to reduce leverage."

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