Bollore announces seventh-gen succession plans

The chairman of Paris-based advertising and communications group Havas, Vincent Bollore, has told shareholders he would like his son Yannick to take over his role at the company, which is majority owned by the family’s eponymous holding company – now in its sixth generation, with Bollore at the helm.

Announced at the Annual Shareholders’ Meetings of Havas and Bollore Group, held 5 June, he said the proposals would be put forward at the next board meetings of the two companies. He would also like another of his sons, Cyrille, to in turn take over from Yannick, who is currently managing director and vice president.

The next board meeting is scheduled for the end of August.

A resolution was also passed at the shareholder meeting, to appoint Delphine Arnault, of fellow French dynasty LVMH, as a director on the Havas board.

Yannick, 33, joined Bollore Group in 2006 as programme director at television channel Direct 8 and took over as chief executive at Bollore Media in 2009. He joined Havas in 2011 and was appointed directeur general delegue in August last year.

Founded in 1822, Bollore is one of the 500 largest companies in the world and the Bollore family has always had a majority stake in the business, which is listed on the Paris stock exchange. It has interests in transportation, industry, distribution and media, and in 2012 its turnover was €10.2 billion.

Bollore has a 37% stake in Havas, which is one of the largest advertising and communication businesses in the world.