According to a report in the Financial Times, Ojjeh knows Publicis chairman Maurice Levy and "various other people in the group". The paper also says that Ojjeh's lawyer Jean Veil, a senior partner at the firm Veil Jourde L Garanderie, is an adviser to Publicis.
However, Publicis director of communications Eve Magnant said: "I can fully deny any project coming from our group. We have no project for Cordiant."
Ojjeh's sudden interest in Cordiant shares has baffled the City and drawn the attention of the Takeover Panel, which has said it is expanding an investigation to look at whether there is a "concert party" -- where separate shareholders act together to achieve the same ends.
Although the panel has not named the bodies it is investigating, it is likely that Ojjeh is one party, and Active Value, the fund management group that has also been busily upping its stake in Cordiant, is thought to be the other.
WPP Group looked set to have a done deal in buying troubled Cordiant, in a 拢266m deal that gave shareholders a nominal sum of 拢10m. Active Value had been pushing for a rescue plan, proposing new management and a cash injection.
Ojjeh's connections with Publicis have led to speculation that her investment in Cordiant could be a way for the French advertising group to buy ZenithOptimedia, the joint-owned media buying company, on the cheap.
Publicis already owns 75% of ZenithOptimedia, with a clause stating that should there be a change of control at Publicis, it will be able to buy Cordiant's 25% stake for 拢75m or a quarter of Cordiant's market value, whichever is lower. With Cordiant's current depressed share price, Publicis could end up paying as little as 拢3.8m for the stake.
However, if WPP succeeds in its takeover, Cordiant's shares will be delisted and the company will have no market value, leaving Publicis to pay the full 拢75m to take control of ZenithOptimedia.
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