The call came at a board meeting yesterday, where the directors expressed their unanimous support for De Pouzilhac, who is chairman and chief executive of the company.
In a statement issued today, Havas said that the board wanted to preserve the interest of all the Havas' shareholders and had asked for its chairman to reiterate the request made to Bollore asking for a clarification of his intentions.
"This clarification concerns the intentions regarding his stake in Havas' capital and his position with regards to the strategy formulated by the board of directors and implemented by Havas management," Havas said.
Last week, it was reported that De Pouzilhac had hatched a plan to shore up support for the management from other major shareholders in the company and build an opposing shareholder bloc. De Pouzilhac was said to have won the backing of institutional investors in the US, as well as two wealthy Spanish investors, the Rodes and March families.
Bollore, through his various companies, now holds a 20% stake in Havas, following a share rights issue in October. De Pouzilhac has several times criticised Bollore for failing to make his intentions for the company clear, and has already called on him directly to do so.
The response from Bollore has been to say that he plans to ask for senior representation on the Havas board, but there has been no official statement of intent. Unofficially, Bollore insiders have been reported saying that Bollore sees Havas as a medium- to long-term investment.
As well as winning the support of the board, De Pouzilhac's position at the head of Havas has been strengthened by the news yesterday that its advertising agency Euro RSCG in New York has won the $100m (£52m) Charles Schwab account after a four-way pitch.
The news was a boost ahead of the fight Havas faces to hang on to its $300m Intel account.
Shares in Havas were trading up by 1.46% this morning at €4.26.
The Bollore Group is a family-owned company with diverse interests including fuel distribution, plastic films and transportation, as well as a burgeoning media division, including the radio station Radio Nouveaux Talents, which began broadcasting in March this year. It plans to launch a digital television station called Direct 8 next year.
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