Aegis will hold its next extraordinary general meeting on April 4 to vote on Vincent Bolloré's third bid to get two seats on the board of the UK media buying group.

The French financier, who has a 29% stake in Aegis, has been trying since last summer to gain a foothold on the Aegis board as a "long term significant corporate shareholder".

However, Aegis, which has comfortably repelled Mr Bolloré on two occasions already, argues that his chairmanship and 25% stake in rival French advertising group Havas is a clear conflict of interest.

Mr Bolloré argues that his nominees Roger Hatchuel, whose family owned the Cannes Advertising Festival for 17 years, and French executive Philippe Germond, are independent and would bring new skills to the Aegis board.

Last year Aegis successfully rallied other shareholders to its cause, securing victory at the company's annual general meeting in June and at an EGM in November, where it widened support to 94.2% of non-Bolloré group investors.

The Aegis directors today issued a letter to shareholders once again urging them to vote against Mr Bolloré's resolutions for board representation.

Mr Bolloré has vowed to continue his quest for two seats despite the liklihood the EGM will go against him once again.

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