While Bollore has yet to declare his intentions concerning Aegis, he mustered a similar takeover of Paris-based rival Havas last year, and is now rumored to be discussing a deal with French agency holding company Publicis Groupe. Publicis, which has already declared an interest in acquiring Aegis, and which has been buying and selling shares, still has not mustered enough of a position to require a public disclosure. But U.K. publisher The Independent Online reports that Publicis CEO Maurice Levy is scheduled to hold a meeting in Paris today with Bollore to discuss a deal.
advertisement
advertisement
The meeting would add another bit of intrigue to an Aegis takeover scenario. Acquisitive WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell is also believed to have held talks with Bollore and to have enlisted the support of U.S.-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman to mount its own takeover bid.
Executives familiar with the European agency scene say the French financial community is keen on strengthening France's position in the global advertising marketplace and is encouraging a deal between Publicis and Bollore. Some even speculate that the talks may lead to a merger between Publicis and Havas, which combined with Aegis would make one of the world's biggest advertising companies, giving both WPP and U.S.-based Omnicom and Interpublic a run for the money.
Ultimately, a break-up scenario seems more likely with Bollore cutting a deal split Aegis assets among one or more players including Publicis, Havas and even WPP. How that might unfold remains unclear. Of the three suitors, WPP has the only significant research holdings and may ultimately be more interested in Aegis' Synovate operations. Carat, meanwhile, is a big Procter & Gamble media agency, which could pose different kinds of conflicts for both Publicis and WPP. Publicis' Starcom MediaVest Group already shares P&G's communications planning account with Carat, making a consolidation of that business unlikely as P&G has a policy of multiple suppliers. WPP, meanwhile, services P&G arch rival Unilever. That conflict was a major reason behind P&G pulling the $800 million media buying account for Gillette out of WPP's MindShare unit and assigning it to Starcom MediaVest Group earlier this week, following the closing of P&G's acquisition of Gillette.