Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>WPP Plc, once the undisputed leader of the global advertising industry, is now at the center of intense takeover speculation following a report by The Times revealing high-level discussions at Havas N.V. and renewed interest from major private equity firms, including KKR and Apollo.</li>
<li>These conversations come at a time when WPP is undergoing significant operational restructuring and facing mounting pressure from shareholders after a series of underwhelming results.</li>
<li>Havas, based near Paris and backed by Vivendi, is reportedly exploring both full and partial acquisition opportunities.</li>
</ul>


WPP Plc, once the undisputed leader of the global advertising industry, is now at the center of intense takeover speculation following a report by The Times revealing high-level discussions at Havas N.V. and renewed interest from major private equity firms, including KKR and Apollo.
These conversations come at a time when WPP is undergoing significant operational restructuring and facing mounting pressure from shareholders after a series of underwhelming results.
Havas, based near Paris and backed by Vivendi, is reportedly exploring both full and partial acquisition opportunities.


WPP Takeover Looms? Havas & Wall Street Titans Eye a Piece of the Ad Giant

European Event-Driven Analyst

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Takeover speculation re-ignites WPP plc, with interest reportedly from Havas, Apollo, and KKR. Depressed valuation, strategic review, and FTSE ejection risk position WPP as a live event-driven opportunity.</li>
<li>Valuation disconnect significant: FY2024 EV/EBITDA only 3.8× versus peers 8–10× (5.4x NTM consensus, vs. peers NTM averaging ~6.7x). Base-case bid 430–550 p implies 50–80 % upside, assuming £7.5–9.5 billion EV.</li>
<li>Arbitrage setup compelling: Expected 6-month return ≈ 34 % (IRR 45 %), asymmetric 3:1 reward-to-risk profile. Key catalysts – formal bid indication, Havas/Vivendi stake-building, or private-equity consortium approach.</li>
</ul>


Takeover speculation re-ignites WPP plc, with interest reportedly from Havas, Apollo, and KKR. Depressed valuation, strategic review, and FTSE ejection risk position WPP as a live event-driven opportunity.
Valuation disconnect significant: FY2024 EV/EBITDA only 3.8× versus peers 8–10× (5.4x NTM consensus, vs. peers NTM averaging ~6.7x). Base-case bid 430–550 p implies 50–80 % upside, assuming £7.5–9.5 billion EV.
Arbitrage setup compelling: Expected 6-month return ≈ 34 % (IRR 45 %), asymmetric 3:1 reward-to-risk profile. Key catalysts – formal bid indication, Havas/Vivendi stake-building, or private-equity consortium approach.


Potential Takeover of WPP Plc — Event-Driven Risk Arbitrage Catalyst Emerging

Index Rebalance and Special Situations, Quiddity Advisors

Afridi Reyal

Index Rebalance and Special Situations

Quiddity Advisors

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Index Rebalance

<ul><li>In this insight, we take a look at the potential index changes for F100 and F250 in the run-up to the December 2025 index rebal event.</li><li>The index changes for the December 2025 rebal will be based on the close of 2nd December 2025 and announced after the close of 3rd December 2025.</li><li>Based on the current numbers, we see one change for the F100 index and four changes for the F250 index in December 2025.</li></ul>

In this insight, we take a look at the potential index changes for F100 and F250 in the run-up to the December 2025 index rebal event.The index changes for the December 2025 rebal will be based on the close of 2nd December 2025 and announced after the close of 3rd December 2025.Based on the current numbers, we see one change for the F100 index and four changes for the F250 index in December 2025.

Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Dec25: One F100 ADD, Four F250 ADDs Likely; One Day to Base Date

Index Rebal Trades & Special Situations, Quiddity Advisors

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Index Rebal Trades & Special Situations

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we take a look at the potential index changes for F100 and F250 in the run-up to the December 2025 index rebal event.</li>
<li>Our latest estimates suggest there could be one regular change for F100 and four regular changes for the F250 index during the December 2025 rebal.</li>
<li>The index changes for the December 2025 rebal will be based on the close of 2nd December 2025 and announced after the close of 3rd December 2025.</li>
</ul>


In this insight, we take a look at the potential index changes for F100 and F250 in the run-up to the December 2025 index rebal event.
Our latest estimates suggest there could be one regular change for F100 and four regular changes for the F250 index during the December 2025 rebal.
The index changes for the December 2025 rebal will be based on the close of 2nd December 2025 and announced after the close of 3rd December 2025.


Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Dec25: New ADDs Identified; Several M&A-Related Changes Likely

US-EU Index Rebalances / Quantitative Researcher, ORTEX

Dimitris Ioannidis

US-EU Index Rebalances / Quantitative Researcher

Global Financial Data and Analytics Platform

ORTEX

ORTEX is a global financial data and analytics platform providing real-time securities lending and short interest data, index rebalance data, holdings and insider transactions, trading signals, corporate actions and news,  stock machine learning and factor scores and other analytics. The majority of the data are downloadable and accessible through APIs.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shawbrook-group-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22139:1" rel="noopener">Shawbrook (SHAW LN)</a>, the biggest UK IPO of the year, is expected to be included in UK 250 and All-Share at a market cap of ~£2bn.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pan-african-resources-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23518:1" rel="noopener">Pan African Resources (PAF LN)</a> transferred its listing to the Main Market resulting in its anticipated addition to UK 250 and All-Share at a market cap of ~£1.8bn.</li>
<li>Princes Group (PRN LN) is anticipated to be included in UK 250 and All-Share following its IPO in November at a market cap of ~£1bn.</li>
</ul>



Shawbrook (SHAW LN), the biggest UK IPO of the year, is expected to be included in UK 250 and All-Share at a market cap of ~£2bn.

Pan African Resources (PAF LN) transferred its listing to the Main Market resulting in its anticipated addition to UK 250 and All-Share at a market cap of ~£1.8bn.
Princes Group (PRN LN) is anticipated to be included in UK 250 and All-Share following its IPO in November at a market cap of ~£1bn.


UK Index Dec25 Forecast: Largest UK IPO of the Year Among Inclusions

United Kingdom

WPP plc operates a communications services group.  The Company's operations encompass advertising, media investment management, information and consultancy, public relations and public affairs, healthcare and specialist communications, and branding and identity services.

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WPP PLC (WPP LN)

WPP Takeover Looms? Havas & Wall Street Titans Eye a Piece of the Ad Giant

WPP Plc, once the undisputed leader of the global advertising industry, is now at the center of intense takeover speculation following a report by...

Baptista Research

Potential Takeover of WPP Plc — Event-Driven Risk Arbitrage Catalyst Emerging

WPP’s valuation collapse and takeover interest from Havas, Apollo, and KKR create a live event-driven opportunity; base-case bid 430–550 p implies...

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Dec25: One F100 ADD, Four F250 ADDs Likely; One Day to Base Date

We achieved 100% hit rate for the F100/250 Dec25 index review. The results were confirmed publicly after market close yesterday. I have summarized...

Afridi Reyal

UK Index Dec25 Forecast: Largest UK IPO of the Year Among Inclusions

Shawbrook’s IPO and Pan African Resources’ listing transfer are expected to result in the largest UK index additions forecasted for December 2025.

Dimitris Ioannidis

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

WPP Takeover Looms? Havas & Wall Street Titans Eye a Piece of the Ad Giant

WPP Plc, once the undisputed leader of the global advertising industry, is now at the center of intense takeover speculation following a report by...

Baptista Research

Potential Takeover of WPP Plc — Event-Driven Risk Arbitrage Catalyst Emerging

WPP’s valuation collapse and takeover interest from Havas, Apollo, and KKR create a live event-driven opportunity; base-case bid 430–550 p implies...

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Dec25: One F100 ADD, Four F250 ADDs Likely; One Day to Base Date

We achieved 100% hit rate for the F100/250 Dec25 index review. The results were confirmed publicly after market close yesterday. I have summarized...

Afridi Reyal

Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Dec25: New ADDs Identified; Several M&A-Related Changes Likely

The base date for the December 2025 review is Tuesday 2nd December 2025. The index changes could be publicly confirmed after market close on...

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

UK Index Dec25 Forecast: Largest UK IPO of the Year Among Inclusions

Shawbrook’s IPO and Pan African Resources’ listing transfer are expected to result in the largest UK index additions forecasted for December 2025.

Dimitris Ioannidis