Chief executive Alain de Pouzilhac will ask shareholders to vote against Bollore's demand for four seats on the French advertising firm's board.
Bollore holds just over 20% of Havas, but according to BNP Paribas has gathered another 10% to him, giving him control of "at least" 30% of voting rights in Havas.
Those backing Bollore include ratings consultancy Deminor Ratings, which in a letter to De Pouzilhac, said it had advised its clients to support Bollore's request for board seats.
Bollore has been campaigning to attract more support, but although he has managed to raise his firepower to 30% he has not been entirely successful.
At least two investors, Proxinvest in France and Institutional Shareholder Services in the US, have sided with De Pouzilhac and Havas.
"We didn't think the dissenters were forthcoming with a plan that warranted the removal of the existing directors," Stanley Dubiel, managing director of international research at Institutional Shareholder Services.
There has been speculation that if Bollore does not get the seats on the board he is after, he could sell his stake in Havas, putting the company in play, and sparking a bidding war.
Havas is the last of the mid-sized advertising companies and could represent a chance for one of the four larger groups -- Omnicom, WPP Group, Interpublic Group and Publicis Groupe -- to gain control of advertising agency netwrok Euro RSCG and media agency MPG.
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