Bollore plays down chances at Aegis board showdown

by Staff, Brand Republic 13-Jun-06, 09:00

LONDON - Vincent Bollore says he has little hope of winning the seats on the Aegis board he is seeking at Wednesday's annual general meeting.

Bollore, who holds a 29.12% stake in the UK media buying and research group, faces stiff opposition in his attempt to win the board seats after the Aegis board, led by chief executive Robert Lerwill, rallied investors to vote down the resolution.

Speaking at Havas's own AGM, Bollore said yesterday: "We don't have much hope of being appointed. Those who think that Havas is in a strategic limbo without Aegis are wrong."

Aegis has argued that the move by Havas chairman Bollore to win board seats on the board of Aegis represents a conflict of interest.

However, he also signalled yesterday that he does not plan to give up on Aegis and told investors the he was in "no hurry". He said he was more than just a short-term fixture. Ultimately Bollore would like to merge or form a partnership between the Havas-owned MPG and Aegis-owned Carat.

Fernando Rodes, Havas chief executive, said: "It's the time to invest in MPG. We are open to alliances that could speed up growth for MPG," he said.

Bollore will likely call for a new shareholder meeting after the AGM, which all shareholders owning more than 5% of UK companies are allowed to do so.

At yesterday's Havas AGM, shareholders voted against plans to pay former Havas chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, €7.8m (£5.3m) in compensation.

De Pouzilhac was ousted last year by Bollore. Three other former directors lost out on compensation and severance payments. The resolutions were rejected by a large majority of shareholders who voted in line with the Bollore Group.

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