TOKYO -- U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital held its nerve during the tortuous progress of its friendly tender offer for Japanese advertising agency Asatsu-DK, which was sealed on Thursday, even as ADK executives fretted that the deal could founder.
The buyout bid, backed by ADK's management, was opposed by U.K. media group WPP, the biggest shareholder in the Tokyo-based company, with 25%. At stake was whether the benchmark for the offer's success, set at 50% of ADK stock, would be cleared.
