Bollore raises stake in Aegis to 15% as bid speculation mounts

LONDON – Vincent Bollore has raised his stake in Aegis to 15%, his second purchase of shares in the media buying and research holding company in two days.

Yesterday, he raised his stake in Aegis to 14.71% as speculation that a bid will be made for Aegis within the next 24 hours mounts.

The strategy mirrors the one that Bollore played out with Havas, where he built his stake to 22% before taking over as chairman and ousting Alain de Pouzilhac.

The Aegis board is due to meet tomorrow in the US at a scheduled meeting in Chicago. The directors will discuss the two possible bids offers -- from Publicis Groupe, and WPP Group working with US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.

However, neither Publicis or WPP have made an official offer, although preliminary talks between Aegis and Publics have valued the British media holding company at £1.56bn.

The latest share increase by French corporate raider Vincent Bollore took his stake from 14.06%, which was the level it had increased to by the end of last week.

Earlier this week, Aegis chief executive Robert Lerwill said that he could see a certain logic in a tie-up with French mid-sized holding firm Havas.

"Sometimes to get the best media conditions, it is necessary to pull offers together. But at the moment, nothing concrete is under study," he said.

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