Aegis Group (LSE:AGS)
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Once upon a time, it appeared to be simply a question of when French advertising group Havas SA (HAV.FR) and U.K. peer Aegis Group PLC (AGS.LN) would merge.

No longer.

Vincent Bollore, the French industrial and major shareholder in both groups, has other priorities, as he hands over decision-making power to Havas' new management team.

"For the Bollore group, it is no longer necessary to tie Havas to Aegis," said Bollore in an interview, speaking from his office overlooking Paris.

For Bollore, whose family-controlled firm today has around $1.7 billion in market value invested in the two ad groups, Aegis is no longer a "strategic" investment, which is why he deconsolidated the 26.5% stake from his group's results.

"Aegis has become a financial holding for us...This doesn't mean we will sell it tomorrow morning. But it's a position that is more open than five, four, three or two years ago. It's a new position," he said.

Even though the billionaire businessman, who is also Havas Chairman, says he is no longer reserving Aegis for Havas, he wants to keep his options open. "Everything is still possible. I am not excluding something will happen," he said.

For many years, investors had been waiting for Bollore to merge Havas, in which he holds a 32.9% stake, with London-based Aegis. Industry insiders saw sense in a tie-up, notably because a merged entity would have a much larger media buying capability and be able to compete better with larger rivals such as Publicis Groupe SA (PUB.FR) or Interpublic Group of Cos (IPG).

Bollore tried to obtain seats on Aegis' board several times to get Aegis to work more closely with Havas but was rebuffed by shareholders. Aegis went through a tough period in 2008-2010 when a series of key executives, including the chief executive, left. After a period of 18 months without a CEO, the group last spring named company veteran Jerry Buhlmann to the post.

Today, Bollore is confident both in Havas and Aegis' management teams and is no longer interested in getting on Aegis's board, while he will gradually take a step back from Havas over the next decade, he said.

"It's true that when I entered into Aegis's [capital] five years ago, it was because I was worried that Havas wouldn't survive on its own and I thought a marriage would be the best solution," he said. "Today, Havas's results make me think that it can manage on its own and that its up to Havas to decide. Havas' new team now holds the key to its development. They will decide if they do an Aegis deal or not, not me."

Since Bollore was named Havas Chairman in 2005, he gutted the management and restructured the group which was struggling under nearly EUR800 million in debt. Recently he appointed a new chief executive, David Jones, and gave him EUR750 million to spend on acquisitions. When asked about a tie-up between Havas and Aegis, Jones has said it is up to Bollore to decide.

Bollore said he will attend fewer Havas meetings in the future, signalling that he will gradually loosen his tight grip on the French company. Over the past six years, Bollore has attended all of Havas's executive committee meetings, as well as most of its financial committees and lately also presented the group's results to analysts and the media. His son, Yannick Bollore,is becoming increasingly involved with the French ad group. After becoming a member of the board last year, he was named vice president of Havas in March. "I'll always meddle, it's in my nature," Bollore said. "But one has to prepare the future and slowdown gradually."

-By Ruth Bender of Dow Jones Newswires and Max Colchester of the Wall Street Journal; ruth.bender@dowjones.com, max.colchester@wsj.com