Will Bollore tie the knot with Aegis in 2009?

By Dominique Vidalon and Kate Holton

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - The year 2009 could be the one that French financier Vincent Bollore finally consummates his "long love affair" with media buyer Aegis.

The shock exit of Aegis's Chief Executive and a depressed Aegis share price have revived speculation Bollore, the majority shareholder in Aegis and its French rival Havas, could seek to merge the two mid-sized advertising groups.

Bollore, who owns 29.9 percent of Aegis and 32.9 percent of Havas, has long said he would like the two companies to work together notably in the media buying sector.

A source familiar with Bollore's thinking told Reuters: "There will be consolidation on the way out of the crisis and acquisition opportunities including in advertising. Aegis is not a sick animal and Havas is not a big company".

An industry source said Bollore was simply waiting and watching to see if the change in Aegis management results in a change in strategy.

Analysts say merging Aegis and Havas would make sense as scale matters during an economic downturn, but they believe that Bollore is in no rush and warned that the prolonged corporate standoff could hamper any integration.

"We are not sure if the departure of the (Aegis) CEO actually makes a deal more likely: clearly the credit market remains constrained and funding for any transaction would be difficult to raise," Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients.

"What we do believe, however, is that given the current level of the Aegis share price, neither Bollore nor a third party ... is likely to ever have a better opportunity during this cycle to make an approach."