Carat's US boss says no value to shareholders in merging with Havas

NEW YORK - David Verklin, Aegis board member and CEO of Carat's operations in the Americas, has said that Aegis loves being independent and that a merger with Havas would not be in the interests of shareholders.

He made the comments in regard to rumours that Aegis could be bought by Havas chairman Vincent Bollore, who has been investing heavily in the company.

Bollore would then be able bolster the Havas-owned media buying network, Media Planning Group, by merging it with Carat.

Bollore is the biggest shareholder in Aegis, owning 25.05% of its stock. A decision last week by the WPP Group and Hellman & Friedman not to pursue a bid for Aegis has left the way clear for him to make a move to buy the rest of the company.

Verklin, speaking at the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit in New York, said that he could understand why Havas would want to buy Aegis.

"I think the challenge for us is we don't see any value in that combination from the Aegis shareholder perspective.

"We never wanted to be sold. We really love our independence and love our independent strategy," Verklin said.

His comments fly in the face of those made by former Aegis shareholder David Herro, chief investment officer for Harris Investments. Earlier this week he said that Bollore was the "best hope" for Aegis. Herro is famous for his part in ousting the Saatchi brothers from the board of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1995.

Verklin was appointed to the Aegis board in 1999.

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