French advertising agency Publicis has paid £75 million sterling (€107 million) to British rival WPP Group.

The sum was received for Cordiant's 25 per cent stake in Zenith Optimedia, its media-buying joint venture with Publicis.

WPP acquired Cordiant in July following a bidding battle with Publicis, which owned the remaining 75 per cent of Zenith.

The £75 million price had been fixed in 2001 when the joint venture was created. A clause in the agreement said the payment could not exceed one-quarter of Cordiant's market value in the event of a change of control.

For a company whose market value had been £1.3 billion in 2000, the idea that one-quarter of that measure would ever fall below £75 million must have seemed far-fetched.

By the time it was delisted, however, Cordiant was worth barely £10 million.

However, because Cordiant was deemed to have had no market value at the point of change of control, the £75 million price for the Zenith stake was preserved.