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Vincent Bollore in Police Probe
Billionaire Vincent Bolloré, the former Chairman of marcoms group Havas, is being held for questioning by the French police as part of an investigation into alleged bribes of public officials in two African countries.
 Bolloré (pictured) began buying Havas stock in 2004, and later, during his time as CEO, the firm invested in big data and other predictive analytics firms including buying pan-European firm ElisaDBI and MFG Labs. It also acquired stakes in research groups including British-held Creston Plc (now known as The Unlimited Group) and RSMB; while Bolloré's own corporation acquired stakes in Harris Interactive, Vivendi and the Aegis Group. Between 2005 and 2008 he made no fewer than five attempts to get two nominees onto the board of Aegis, then the parent of MR group Synovate.
Last year, Havas was acquired from The Bolloré Group by mass media conglomerate Vivendi, and Vincent Bolloré served as Chairman of the latter firm's Supervisory Board until stepping down a week ago and handing the position to his son Yannick, who also serves as Chairman and CEO of Havas.
Aside from the marcoms sector, the family business, The Bolloré Group, offers transportation and logistics services and has worked with several former French colonies in Africa, operating container terminals in Guinea, Togo and Nigeria and running dry ports in nations such as Burkina Faso and Chad. According to media reports, the police probe is focusing on contracts awarded to The Bolloré Group, relating to the operation of container terminals in Lome, Togo and Conakry, Guinea. Judges will look at allegations that Bolloré Group managers used Havas to facilitate the election of African officials through the provision of communications advice at a discounted price.
In a statement, The Bolloré Group denied that the company has done anything 'irregular', adding: 'The interrogation of executives will provide clarity to the judiciary on these questions, which were the subject of an independent audit that found the operations were perfectly regular. The executives are happy to cooperate fully with authorities'.
Web site: www.bollore.com .
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