Bollore Wins Battle for Delmas-Vieljeux

French entrepreneur Vincent Bollore is poised to take control of leading liner group Delmas Vieljeux after a protracted power struggle lasting more than five years. The industrial and shipping conglomerate Bollore Technologies has recently acquired a 9% shareholding in the Delmas holding company Compagnie Financiere Delmas for Fr750m ($127m), increasing its equity stake to 31%. This does not in itself give Bollore control of the group, nor is it high enough to trigger off an automatic bid for the company – required at the 33.3% level. But it is expected that Bollore will be able to draw on the support of powerful allies, notably the Axa Insurance Group, the largest shareholder with 33.4%, and a 40% shareholder in Bollore itself, and on disaffected members of the Vieljeux family. Vincent Bollore will now achieve his long term objective of securing a seat on the Delmas board, and may even take outright control of the company, if Axa sells its share in Delmas.

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