ressure on French advertising group, Havas, mounted recently as it emerged that corporate raider and dissident shareholder Vincent Bollore has asked for seats on the company's board. The revelation follows Bollore's decision to raise his stake in
Havas to 10.4 per cent, which added to speculation that the world's sixth biggest advertising group could soon be sold after it lost out in the bidding for Grey Global.
Havas failed in its quest for Grey when the American group was sold to Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP. After winning the Grey auction, Sir Martin warned Havas it could get left behind as a middle-ranking company as the industry becomes more consolidated, with a four-strong elite of WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic and Publicis now established. ... more