Bollore Raises Aegis Stake To 9%

French entrepreneur Vincent Bollore has increased his stake in Aegis to “close to 9%”, further fuelling industry speculation that he will enter the bidding for overall control of the firm.

Bollore, chairman of rival agency Havas told a French news conference: “Maybe Aegis will be a long-term shareholding one day, but for the moment it is a financial one. We are studying what is happening there with interest.” He also added that he had no plans for a merger between Havas and Aegis.

The raised stake follows a week of Bollore’s increasing his holding in the company and follows French group Publicis’ confirmation last week that it is in the early stages of an offer for Aegis (see Increased Stake Fuels Bollore/Aegis Rumours).

However, Bollore is not the only potential rival to Publicis’ approach for control of Aegis. Several competing firms are currently consulting with advisers, resulting in rumours of an impending fight for control of the media buying firm amongst city insiders.

Amongst those believed to be interested are British market research specialist Taylor Nelson Sofres, American-owned Omnicom and French firm Ipsos. Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP was also thought to be a likely contender to swallow Aegis whole, although reports over the weekend claim that the high profile media figure has shown little interest in company’s sale.

In its trading statement published last month, Aegis, reported a 14% increase in revenue for the six months to June 30th, reaching £389.0 million, up from £338 million this 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’s 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