LONDON (ShareCast) - Minority shareholder Vincent Bollore has been rebuffed for a second time in his attempts to get two of his representatives onto the board of media buyer Aegis.

Bollore, though, vowed to keep up the pressure to get his candidates, Phillipe Germond and Roger Hatchuel, elected.

In a statement, Aegis said 94.2% of the votes not controlled by Groupe Bollore were cast against the two candidates. The duo received 41.5% of votes cast with 58.5% against.

Bollore has built a 29.2% stake in Aegis and wants to align the group with Havas, a French media group where he is chairman and also a major shareholder.

Aegis had urged investors to vote against Bollore's candidates, arguing that giving him representation would be improper because of his role at Havas. It added that the nominees would have a conflict of interest, and directors should not favour any one shareholder over others.

"Board representation for a shareholder with close connections to a competitor is simply inappropriate. We hope that Groupe Bollore will respect the views of the clear majority of Aegis shareholders voting today," Aegis chairman Colin Sharman said after it announced today’s vote.

A spokesman for Bollore, however, told reporters that he would ask for another shareholder meeting in early 2007.

• News Channel