Bollore Increases Aegis Stake To 11.4%

French entrepreneur Vincent Bollore has again increased his stake in media communications business, Aegis, raising his share in the company to 11.4% over the weekend to make him the firm’s largest stakeholder.

The move adds fuel to industry speculation that Bollore is planning a take-over bid for Aegis, after he began increasing his share in August and raised it to almost 9% before the weekend.

According to the Financial Times, under UK take-over rules, an investor holding more than 10% of a company’s shares can refuse to tender the shares in case of any take-over offer.

This would mean that if rival company Publicis, which is also reported to be interested in Aegis, proceeded with a bid, Bollore would be able to force a higher offer for the company.

Other companies interested in Aegis include, British market research specialist Taylor Nelson Sofres, American-owned Omnicom and French firm Ipsos.

In its trading statement published last month, Aegis, reported a 14% increase in revenue for the six months to 30 June, reaching £389 million, up from £338 million the same time a year ago.

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’ digital network, Isobar, also enjoyed a healthy first half to the year, seeing revenues rise by 20%.

Aegis Group: 020 7070 7700 www.aegisplc.com