At an Extraordinary General Meeting held today, Aegis shareholders voted against Bollore's proposal to appoint his representatives, Philippe Germond and Roger Hatchuel, as board directors. He has already been outvoted twice on the same issue.
The shareholders voted 43.7% for and 56.3% against appointing either candidate to the board.
Bollore currently has a 29.1% share in the UK-based Aegis Group, which owns media agencies Carat and Vizeum and market research firm Synovate, making him the largest single shareholder in the network. Should his shareholding rise above 30%, Bollore would have to make a full offer for the firm according to UK law.
The result of the first vote on the resolution, in June last year, was 31.9% for to 44.7% against. The result of the second, in November, was 32% for to 45.2% against. In each case, less than 6% of non-Group Bollore votes were cast for the resolution.
Lord Sharman, chairman of Aegis, said: "Over 90% of independent shareholders have now rejected these proposals three times in 10 months. They see board representation for a direct competitor as an unacceptable conflict of interest.
"We hope that Groupe Bollore will come to respect this democratically expressed point of view. In the meantime, our attention remains on developing our business model for the benefit of all shareholders -- building on 10 years of market out-performance and the fastest growth of any marketing services group."
Bollore increased his stake in marketing services group Havas, of which he is chairman, to 31% this month.
It is unclear whether Bollore will continue to ask for Aegis shareholders to vote on his proposal.
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