Havas Board Agrees Bolloré Takeover

Board members of French ad and PR group Havas have voted in favour of accepting an offer from shareholder Bolloré Group to take control of the business.

Vincent Bolloré (pictured) first announced the plan last month, and will use a share exchange offer to increase his stake from 36% to more than 50%. According to reports, the Havas Board has now agreed that Bolloré's own company is in the right position to take the business forward and that the offer is in the best interest of Havas, its employees and its shareholders.

Based in Paris, Havas offers communications, advertising, direct marketing, media planning and buying, sales promotion, design, HR, sports marketing and PR; and has big data and predictive analytics investments in ElisaDBI and MFG Labs. Research company shareholdings include Creston Plc and RSMB. In addition, Bolloré's own corporation holds 13% of Harris Interactive and 5% of Vivendi. He also still owns 6.4% of Aegis Group, now joined with Dentsu, but with whose management he fought a long battle between 2005 and 2008 with the aim of getting seats on the Board.

In a statement, his son Yannick Bolloré, who is the Chairman and CEO of the Havas Group, said: 'I am delighted by the positive opinion issued today by the Board of directors of Havas. I am also pleased that this offer was favourably welcomed by the group committee. The success of this transaction will enable our group to benefit from the support of a long-term shareholder.'

Web sites: www.bollore.com/en-us and www.havas.com .