DocumentUNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 20-F/A
(Amendment No. 1)
(Mark One)
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¨ | REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
OR
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x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31 2024
OR
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¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
OR
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¨ | SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Date of event requiring this shell company report _________
For the transition period from _________ to _________
Commission file number 001-38303
WPP plc
(Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Jersey
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
Sea Containers, 18 Upper Ground
London, United Kingdom, SE1 9GL
(Address of principal executive offices)
Andrea Harris
Group Chief Counsel
Sea Containers, 18 Upper Ground, London, United Kingdom, SE1 9GL
Telephone: +44(0) 20 7282 4600
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.
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| Title of each class | | Trading Symbol (s) | | Name of each exchange on which registered |
| Ordinary Shares of 10p each
| | WPP | | London Stock Exchange |
| American Depositary Shares, each representing five Ordinary Shares (ADSs) | | WPP | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act. Not applicable
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(Title of Class)
Not applicable
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(Title of Class)
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.
None
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(Title of Class)
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.
At December 31, 2024, the number of outstanding ordinary shares was 1,078,802,358 which included at such date 98,433,160 ordinary shares represented by 19,686,632 ADSs.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Note – Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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| Large Accelerated Filer | x | | Accelerated Filer | ¨ |
| Non-accelerated Filer | o | | Emerging Growth Company | ¨ |
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
†The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
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U.S. GAAP ¨ | | International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board x | | Other ¨ |
If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.
If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Explanatory Note
WPP plc (the “Company”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 (this “Amendment No. 1”) to its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, as originally filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 28, 2025 (the “Original Filing”), solely for the purpose of correcting typographical errors in Exhibit 8.1 of Item 19 regarding the Company’s subsidiaries.
In addition, the Company is including in this Amendment No. 1 currently dated certifications from its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer as required by Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are attached hereto as Exhibits 12.3 and 12.4, respectively.
Except as described above, no other changes have been made to the Original Filing. This Amendment No. 1 speaks as of the filing date of the Original Filing, or March 28, 2025. Other than as expressly set forth above, this Amendment No. 1 does not, and does not purport to, amend, update or restate the information in any other item of the Original Filing, or reflect any event that has occurred after the filing of the Original Filing. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 1 should be read in conjunction with the Original Filing and the Company’s filings with the SEC subsequent to the filing of the Original Filing.
ITEM 19. EXHIBITS
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Exhibit No. | | Exhibit Title |
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1.1 | | |
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2.1 | | |
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2.2 | | |
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2.3 | | |
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2.4 | | |
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2.5 | | |
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2.6 | | |
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2.7 | | |
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2.8 | | |
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2.9 | | |
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2.10 | | |
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2.11 | | |
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2.12 | | |
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2.13 | | |
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2.14 | | |
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Exhibit No. | | Exhibit Title |
2.15 | | U.S. $2,500,000,000 Revolving Credit Facility Agreement dated 20 February 2024, maturing 20 February 2030; made among WPP CP LLC, WPP Finance Co. Limited and WPP CP Finance plc, as Borrowers, and the Guarantors, Facility Agent, Swingline Agent, Lead Arrangers, Bookrunners and Lenders referred to therein |
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4.1 | | |
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4.2 | | |
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4.3 | | |
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4.4 | | |
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4.5 | | |
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4.6 | | |
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4.7 | | |
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4.8 | | |
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4.9 | | |
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4.10 | | |
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4.11 | | |
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4.12 | | |
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4.13 | | |
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4.14 | | |
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4.15 | | WPP Share Option Plan 2015, amended 5 December 2019.* |
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4.16 | | |
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4.17 | | The WPP plc Stock Plan 2018, amended 9 March 2023.* |
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4.18 | | |
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Exhibit No. | | Exhibit Title |
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4.19 | | Securityholders’ Agreement, dated 5 December 2019, between Summer (BC) US JVCO S.C.Sp., Summer (BC) US JVCo GP S.a r.l., Summer (BC) JVCO S.a r.l., York Merger Square 2009 LLC, WPP Diamond Head LLC, WPP 2005 Limited, Summer (BC) Topco S.a r.l., and Summer (BC) US Blockerco Corp (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 4.30 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2019, as filed with SEC on 30 April 2020). |
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4.20 | | |
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8.1 | | |
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11 | | WPP plc Dealing Code* |
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12.1 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer.* |
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12.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer.* |
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12.3 | | |
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12.4 | | |
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13.1 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer under 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.* |
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13.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer under 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.* |
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14.1 | | Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - PwC (for WPP plc and subsidiaries).* |
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14.2 | | Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Deloitte (for WPP plc and subsidiaries).* |
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17.1 | | List of subsidiary guarantors and issuers of guaranteed securities.* |
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97 | | The WPP Compensation Recovery Policy, dated 1 December 2023.* |
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101.INS | | Inline XBRL Instance Document* |
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101.SCH | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Linkbase Document* |
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101.CAL | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document* |
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101.DEF | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document* |
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101.LAB | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document* |
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101.PRE | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document* |
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104 | | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)* |
_________________* Incorporated by reference with the corresponding exhibit number from the 20-F filed March 28, 2025.
** Filed herewith.
Signatures
The Registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 20-F/A and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this Amendment No. 1 to the annual report on its behalf.
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| WPP plc |
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| By: | /s/ Joanne Wilson |
| | Joanne Wilson Chief Financial Officer |
| | 25 July 2025 |