Groupe Bollore, headed by Havas chief executive and French entrepreneur Vincent Bollore, is preparing to increase its stake in Aegis, fuelling industry speculation over a possible take-over bid for the media and communications business.
According to reports this weekend in the
Sunday Times, Bollore intends to push his stake up to almost 20%, after increasing it to 14.06% on Friday.
Over recent weeks, the French business man has been acquiring shares in Aegis, claiming his intentions as “financial” rather than as a precursor to any deal (see Bollore Pushes Aegis Stake To 13.35%).
Last week, Havas distanced itself from Bollore’s comments surrounding a possible take-over of media group Aegis, clarifying that the French entrepreneur was speaking in his capacity as chief executive of Groupe Bollore, and not as head of Havas (see Havas Denies Takeover Rumours).
Other businesses reported to be interested in acquiring Aegis include Havas’s rival, Publicis (see Publicis Group Confirms Offer For Aegis), as well as global advertising agency WPP (see Bollore Raises Stakes As WPP Shows Interest In Aegis).
In its most recent trading statement, Aegis, reported a 14% increase in revenue for the six months to June 30th, reaching £389.0 million, up from £338.9 million this time a year ago (see Aegis Reports 14% Increase In Revenues For First Half Of 2005).
Half-year profit for the group rose to £35.6 million from £35.4 million a year earlier, helped by strong growth in its market research business, Synovate which increased revenues by nearly 18%. Aegis’s digital network, Isobar, also enjoyed a healthy first half to the year, seeing revenues rise by 20%.
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