GfK this morning confirmed it had abandoned its pursuit of TNS, the market researcher, leaving only a £1.1 billion bid from Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP on the table.

The German company abandoned an all-share merger of equals with TNS and tried to launch its own buyout after WPP made a hostile bid for its partner. However, having jilted TNS, GfK could not find a backer to provide it cash.

It held talks with the German Herz family, and subsequently with Apax, the venture capital firm, but these are thought to have broken down because of the degree of control GfK would have had to cede to Apax.

In a statement, GfK said it had "concluded that the terms of the financing available did not enable a sufficiently compelling alternative cash offer to be made for TNS that was also economically in the best interests of the GfK shareholders".

WPP's cash and shares offer is worth 268.7p a TNS share, in line with last night's closing price. TNS, though, reiterated that it rejected the WPP offer, as evidenced, it said, by the interim results released this morning.

Pre-tax profits, though, were down £2.9 million at £31 million in the six months to June, although income was depressed by £8.4 million because of the fees charged by advisers working on the deal. On an adjusted basis, with one off items stripped out, operating profit was 19.6 per cent ahead at £54.3 million, with revenues 5 per cent ahead on an underlying basis at £580.4 million.

GfK is now precluded from bidding for six months, unless there is a material change of circumstances or it reaches agreement with the TNS board.

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