Publicis takeover of Aegis would not be hostile

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 29-Sep-05, 08:45

LONDON - Publicis Groupe has ruled out the possibility of a hostile takeover of Aegis, in an agreement between the two groups that indicates their relationship is cooperative.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the "standstill" agreement was signed as part of the preliminary takeover approach at an "indicative" price of 140p a share made by Publicis and revealed by Aegis last week.

The agreement also means that if the talks progress to a stage where Publicis conducts due diligence on Aegis, then Publicis can not buy Aegis shares during that stage.

Yesterday, Aegis revealed that Havas chairman Vincent Bollore raised his stake from 6% to 8% in a round of buying earlier this week. He acquired an estimated £25m worth of shares at nearly 140p each.

It was Bollore's initial move on Aegis at the start of August that prompted Publicis chief executive Maurice Levy to start discussions with Aegis.

In early morning trading, Aegis shares dropped from 139.2p to 138.3p.

Speculation that one or more of the other major players, WPP, Omnicom and Interpublic, might come in with a bid has so far proved unfounded.

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