Herro, who is chief investment officer of Harris Investments, is quoted in the Financial Times as saying: "I think Mr Bollore is Aegis's best hope. He is a skilled businessman. He is needed there."
Harris had been Aegis' biggest shareholder until August this year, when Bollore began to buy stock in the company. The investment management firm owned 10% of Aegis, but has since sold its entire stake -- making a profit, having bought the shares at around 90p in 2001 but selling them for around 136p.
Bollore now owns 25.05% of the company, leading to speculation that he plans to take over Aegis and possibly merge it with the other ad group in which he owns a large stake, Havas of which he also chairman.
Last Friday, WPP Group and Hellman & Friedman said that they were not going to make a bid for Aegis Group. Aegis had called for a put-up-or-shut-up order from the Takeover Panel in an attempt to end the uncertainty over the company's future. However, the Takeover Panel cleared Bollore to make a separate bid after saying he was not bound by rules governing concert parties.
Separately, Havas has appointed Herve Phillipe as its new chief financial officer, following the departure of Jacques Herail earlier this month. Phillipe joins from electronics group Sagem, where he has been chief financial officer since 2001.
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