• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, October 17, 2005

The first business day after Publicis Groupe announced it would not make an earnest bid to acquire Aegis Group, the U.K.-based media services company announced an acquisition of its own: the purchase of Just Media Limited, a leading U.K. B-to-B media shop. Aegis' largest shareholder, French financier and Havas Chairman Vincent Bollore, meanwhile has boosted his stake to 17.38 percent of Aegis.

Saying an Aegis bid was "not in the best interests" of its shareholders, Publicis Friday said it would not move forward with an explicit offer, although it said it was reserving the right to reconsider should a "third party" announce a "firm intention to make an offer for Aegis." The most likely third party would be a syndicate comprised of London-based agency holding company WPP Group with financial backing from U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.

Despite that statement, it does not appear that Publicis CEO Maurice Levy has the stomach to get into a genuine bidding war for Aegis should the action heat up between Bollore and WPP CEO Martin Sorrell. In an interview published Sunday by the International Herald Tribune, Levy said: "This was becoming a battle that was much more about ego than the interests of the company." He added that he would have been reluctant to pay more than the 140 pence per share that Publicis indicated when it first began due diligence in preparation of an Aegis offer. "For me, 140 was already a stretch. It was, for me, not a starting point but the end point."

The Aegis board, meanwhile, wasted little time managing its own destiny, announcing details Monday morning of its Just Media Limited deal.

"Combining JML with the market experience, tools, and buying power of Carat Business will create many synergies and new opportunities that are expected to drive revenue growth and margin improvement," stated Aegis CEO Robert Lerwill. Aegis said it agreed to pay up to $15.6 million plus the value of retained earnings over a three-year period for 100 percent equity in Just Media Limited.