System1 has rejected Brave Bison for the fourth time, believing the latest offer still “materially undervalues” the marketing effectiveness business and does not reflect its underlying momentum or strategic value.

The latest proposal, announced by Brave Bison on Monday, implied a value of £3.60 per System1 share, or around £47.5m, comprising £1.35 in cash and 2.394 new Brave Bison shares for each System1 share. An all-share alternative offered 3.36 new Brave Bison shares per System1 share.

System1 today announced its board had “unanimously and unequivocally” rejected the offer, which represented a 1.8% discount to its £3.35 closing share price on Tuesday. The company also noted that Brave Bison’s share price had fallen 10.5% since July 10, reducing the effective value of the latest proposal.

Shareholders representing around 23% of System1’s share capital support the board’s position, while the company said its three largest shareholders, excluding Brave Bison, had confirmed they did not intend to accept the offer. Shareholders supporting the revised bid represent around 11% of the company. Brave Bison holds a 28% stake in System1, having made a strategic investment earlier this year, and both are listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

System1 said it remained unconvinced by Brave Bison’s strategic rationale, arguing that the two businesses had limited commercial overlap and that Brave Bison did not have a marketing effectiveness platform. It said it could continue to invest in artificial intelligence, accelerate product development and attract talent independently.

System1 specialises in marketing research, advertising effectiveness testing, and consumer insight analytics, while Brave Bison Group operates across digital marketing, social media, influencer marketing, media technology, and related services.

Chair Rupert Howell said: “At a time when management should be focused on executing our strategy and delivering value, this prolonged and opportunistic approach is wasting management time, causing disruption to the business and incurring unnecessary costs for shareholders.”

Brave Bison has been pursuing System1 for months, having made several revised cash-and-share offers, all of which System1 rejected as undervaluing the company and its prospects.

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