Cash Influx Leads To Collapse Of Ketchum, Ayer Merger

PITTSBURGH – Money – not power-sharing or real estate – was the primary reason for the collapse of the merger talks last week between Ketchum Communications and Ayer.
Industry sources said last week that the talks were scuttled after Ayer received a last-minute cash infusion of between $10 million and $20 million from an investment bank.
‘Ayer found some angels somewhere,’ said one source familiar with the deal. ‘The new financing has given Jerry Siano (chairman/ceo of Ayer) what he needed Ketchum for – cash – and he didn’t have to give up the agency to get it.’