Derriston Capital, a British firm whose website says it was created "to consider opportunities within the global medical technology industry," plans to announce tomorrow morning in the U.K. that it has reached an agreement to acquire S4 Capital, an investment vehicle backed by Sorrell, according to a Derriston spokesman. S4 Capital was set up with 40 million pounds of Sorrell's own money and 11 million pounds from institutional investors, the Derriston spokesman said.
A spokesman for Sorrell said via email "we are not commenting on market speculation."
The news of Sorrell's move was first reported by Sky News.
The acquisition will be treated as a reverse takeover, which will involve Derriston changing its name and becoming S4 Capital Plc. Sorrell will become the entity's executive chairman.
S4 will be a vehicle to create a global advertising, marketing services and ad-tech company by acquisition, the Derriston spokesman said.
The news comes a month-and-a-half after Sorrell stepped down as CEO of WPP following an internal investigation into misconduct, ending a 33-year career at the world's largest agency holding company. Earlier in May, he said at a conference in New York he doesn't plan to go into "voluntary or involuntary retirement" and plans to "start again."
