Bolloré to Sell Stake in Aegis?

French financier Vincent Bolloré has indicated that he may be willing to sell his 26.5% stake in Synovate's parent firm Aegis, according to a report in the UK's Guardian newspaper.

Bolloré, who is Chairman of ad giant Havas Group, first bought shares in Aegis in 2005 and has talked of merging the two firms, but found his subsequent attempts to secure representation on its Board for his nominees Philippe Germond and Roger Hatchuel resisted. At present however, he remains Aegis' largest shareholder.

Bolloré's holding company Groupe Bolloré has now announced that it is no longer consolidating Aegis numbers in its own results, which analysts say signals that his stake in Aegis could be up for grabs. According to the Guardian's report, Bolloré recently told reporters that 'Havas can live without Aegis'.

Back in 2009, Aegis Chairman John Napier is said to have led discussions with private equity group Apax Partners to sell Synovate to GfK. The deal would have left Bolloré free to acquire the rest of Aegis, but talks stalled following a decline in the global ad market.

In a note last week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Helen Snell predicted that there could be a new joint bid for Aegis by WPP and Havas, with WPP taking Synovate and Havas retaining the media buying arm.

Web sites: www.havas.com , www.aegisplc.com and www.synovate.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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