JWT OKs Sale to British Group

NEW YORK — In a change of heart, JWT Group Inc., parent of J. Walter Thompson, the fourth largest U.S. advertising agency, today agreed to a sweetened $566-million takeover by Britain’s WPP Group PLC after having spurned its early advances.

Under the agreement, marketing services company WPP will pay JWT stockholders $55.50 for each share in the Madison Avenue firm, an increase of more than $10 a share over the London firm’s first offer made earlier this month.