It is believed that Bollore will use the cash raised from selling 4% of his 21.7% holding in the steel tube-making firm Vallourec to snap up more Aegis shares.
On Friday, Bollore increased his stake in Aegis to 13.4% after he bought another 8m shares. It then emerged on Saturday that he had increased his stake still further to 14.06%.
His intentions for the company are still unclear. He took control of Havas earlier this year when he amassed a 22% stake.
However, in an interview with the French financial news service Agefi today Bollore said that Aegis should remain independent, but he did not seem to be rule out alternatives.
"Its CEO told me that the company could develop without being integrated into one of the sector's global players. I share that analysis, which doesn't prevent us from being ready to definitively fix our position as soon as the [share] movements involving this company are known," he said.
Aegis is being circled by Publicis Groupe and WPP Group in alliance with private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.
It has also been reported that Bollore is set to meet with Maurice Levy, chairman of Publicis Groupe, to talk about the future of Aegis.
This future could involve Aegis being broken up and its components, the two media-buying networks, Carat and Vizeum, as well as the market research network Synovate, and its digital division Isobar being sold off separately.
WPP is reported to be interested in Synovate, but a weekend report in the Mail on Sunday suggested its interest could extend further than this to other parts of Aegis.
This might mean it would take control of Isobar or the lesser of the two media networks Vizeum, as any bid for Carat would be sure to spark regulatory concerns over the might of WPP's already extensive media planning and buying holdings through MediaCom, MindShare and Mediaedge:cia.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the
.jpg)
.jpg)