BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saxena White P.A. has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit (the “Class Action”) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against WPP plc (“WPP” or the “Company”) (NYSE: WPP) and certain of its executive officers (collectively, “Defendants”). The Class Action asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased WPP American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) between February 22, 2024 and July 8, 2025, inclusive (the “Class Period”), and were damaged thereby (the “Class”). The Class Action filed by Saxena White is captioned Teamsters Local 456 Annuity Fund v. WPP plc, et al., No. 25-cv-9930 (S.D.N.Y.).

The Class Action complaint expands the class period and allegations asserted in a related action against WPP and certain of its executive officers captioned: Marty v. WPP plc, et al., No. 25-cv-8365 (S.D.N.Y. filed Oct. 9, 2025) (the “Marty Action”). Specifically, the Class Action expands the class period pled from February 27, 2025 to July 8, 2025 in the Marty Action, to February 22, 2024 to July 8, 2025 in the Class Action on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased WPP ADRs.

Pursuant to the notice published on October 9, 2025 in connection with the filing of the Marty Action, and as required by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), investors wishing to serve as lead plaintiff are required to file a motion for appointment as lead plaintiff by no later than December 8, 2025. Saxena White’s filing of the Class Action does not alter the lead plaintiff deadline.

WPP provides advertising, media management, consultancy, public relations, and branding and identity services globally. As a part of WPP’s Global Integrated Agencies segment, WPP Media utilizes data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to create, plan, and buy integrated media campaigns for its global clients. In May 2025, the Company launched WPP Media as a rebrand of GroupM, which historically represented one of the top three earnings divisions within the Global Integrated Agencies segment. In 2020, after WPP had become the world’s largest advertising company through numerous acquisitions of smaller media companies, the Company launched a years-long effort to transform itself by generating operational and strategic synergies. The strategic transformation included the simplification of WPP Media, formerly known as GroupM.  

Leading up to the Class Period, the Company touted its most recent iteration of its strategy to transform WPP, referred to as “Innovating to Lead,” which purportedly included the “continued process of simplification at GroupM.” However, Defendants misrepresented the status of WPP’s transformation and the simplification strategy for WPP Media. In reality, and undisclosed to investors, WPP never had an effective or cohesive strategy to transform itself. In fact, WPP’s efforts to transform itself led to internal disruptions that hindered the Company’s ability to generate new business and resulted in an exodus of highly material clients.

The Class Action alleges that, during the Class Period, the Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects, including that: (1) WPP did not have a coherent strategy to execute the simplification and transformation of WPP, particularly WPP Media; (2) the Company’s strategy to transform and simply WPP Media led to significant internal disruptions; (3) such internal disruptions rendered WPP unable to effectively generate new business and resulted in an exodus of large clients of WPP; and (4) as a result of the above, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

The truth was revealed on July 9, 2025, when WPP provided a First Half 2025 Trading Update and admitted its disappointing results and guidance were the result of “lower net new business.” For example, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Read acknowledged that restructuring actions previously taken with respect to WPP Media had let to “some distraction to the business” that resulted in a “deficit of new business opportunities.” On this news, the price of WPP ADRs fell $6.48 per ADR, or about 18%, to a closing price of $29.34 per ADR on July 9, 2025.  

If you purchased WPP ADRs during the Class Period and were damaged thereby, you are a member of the “Class” and may be able to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff, a motion on your behalf must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York no later than December 8, 2025. The lead plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as lead plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in the Class Action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member.

You may contact Marco A. Dueñas (mduenas@saxenawhite.com), a Senior Attorney at Saxena White P.A., to discuss your rights regarding the appointment of lead plaintiff or your interest in the Class Action. You also may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in the Class Action. You may obtain a copy of the Complaint and inquire about actively joining the Class Action at www.saxenawhite.com.

Saxena White P.A., with offices in Florida, New York, California, and Delaware, is a leading national law firm focused on prosecuting securities class actions and other complex litigation on behalf of injured investors. Currently serving as lead counsel in numerous securities class actions nationwide, Saxena White has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of injured investors.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Marco A. Dueñas, Esq.
mduenas@saxenawhite.com
Saxena White P.A.
10 Bank Street, Suite 882
White Plains, New York 10606
Tel.: (914) 200-3263
www.saxenawhite.com