Bollore's stake in Aegis Group crosses 13% mark

by Staff, Brand Republic 07-Oct-05, 12:00

LONDON - Vincent Bollore's stake in Aegis Group now stands at 13.4% after the French businessman acquired further stock in the company.

Bollore is the largest shareholder in Aegis, which has met with Publicis Groupe and WPP Group about the possibility of a takeover.

Although Bollore is chairman of French ad group Havas, his share dealings in Aegis are presently separate from that company. However, there was reported today that Bollore is to meet with Maurice Levy, chairman of Publicis Groupe, to talk about the future of Aegis.

Separately, Havas has not ruled out the possibility of being involved in some degree in a takeover of all or part of Aegis. This has led to speculation that the eventual buyer -- if one emerges -- could break Aegis up and sell off the components separately.

Aegis owns two media buying networks, Carat and Vizeum, as well as the market research network Synovate, and Isobar, its digital division.

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