Aegis Chief: 'Havas Is Not In Our Space'

Some new twists took place Tuesday concerning two big European-owned agency conglomerates. Paris-based Havas, which has been taken over by French corporate raider Vincent Bollore lost one of its flagship advertising accounts, Volkswagen of America, and the chief executive of London-based Aegis Group tried to downplay prospects of a merger with Havas.

The merger scenario has been percolating for months, but took on new impetus last month when Bollore acquired more than a 6 percent stake in Aegis. Bollore, which initiated his takeover of Havas with a similar investment a year ago, also appears to have raised cash that could be used to raise his take in Aegis. The Bollore Group sold its Delmas shipping business to CMA CGM in a deal valued at $600 million, reported AdAge.com.

Meanwhile, Aegis, which reportedly was also approached by late last year by Omnicom, isn't interested in being combined with one of the other major agency holding companies, CEO Robert Lerwill told investors following the release of the company's first half earnings results (MDN Sept. 6).

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"Our strategy is not to be a full-service marketing group. Havas is not in our space," reported the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. "The only fact is that Mr. Bollore has 6%," Lerwill added. "Anything else is rumor and speculation that is not appropriate to discuss."

But following the loss of another important account, Havas may feel pressure to accelerate another strategic play to keep its momentum moving forward.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen said it was pulling its estimated $350 million North American ad account from Havas' Arnold Worldwide unit and moved it to red hot creative shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The move follows the Havas' loss of Volkswagen's media buying account, which the German-based automaker moved from Havas' MPG unit last year and consolidated at WPP Group's MediaCom unit.

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