Carat loses Rebbouh and Kemoun client poaching case

LONDON - Aegis has lost a court case against the French media agency started by its two former chief executives, Eryck Rebbouh and Bruno Kemoun, which had alleged the pair had engaged in illegal client poaching.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, the Nanterre court near Paris has ruled against Aegis-owned agency Carat in the case, finding that the company had made the allegations so that it could obtain information about KR Media's finances and strategy.

Rebbouh and Kemoun, who are considered legends on the French advertising scene, saw their offices being raided in December as part of investigations into Carat's allegations.

Carat has now been ordered to pay fines of up to €13,000 (£9,065) a day until documents seized in the raid are returned to KR Media.

The pair's network launched a year ago in Paris, and six months later WPP Group bought a 20% share in the company, in a deal that would give KR Media access to the media giant's systems, research and group-buying clout.

It has been successful in poaching clients of Carat including LVMH and Bouygues Telecom. The UK office is due to launch this month.

The pair's departure in November 2003 rocked Carat and left it with a major hole. The two, who also sat on the Aegis board, had worked with the group for 18 years.

However, prior to their departure they had repeatedly clashed with Aegis chief executive Doug Flynn over the future direction of the company.

A particular bone of contention was believed to be that Kemoun and Rebbouh were unhappy with the levels of investment Flynn had set aside to the Aegis research business Synovate at the expense of Carat.

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