Media buying group Aegis has made a final push to urge shareholders to vote against French corporate raider Vincent Bolloré's plans to gain two seats on its board.
Although the company is confident it has enough support to defeat Mr Bolloré's 29% stake - and the Frenchman himself has conceded he will lose the investor poll - it is worried that "voter apathy" will give him a back-door victory.
Aegis today sent a letter to shareholders reminding them of the importance of the vote, to be held at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday. Proxy votes must be received by Monday morning.
"Every vote, including yours, will count in this matter," the company's chairman, Lord Sharman, warned in the letter.
Aegis has already succeeded in winning support from a number of institutional investors. Last week it revealed it had the backing of 11 leading shareholders, accounting for 23% of its stock.
The company also made public a supportive letter signed by five institutions, including Fidelity International and Standard Life.
But with its shareholder base more widely spread than in June, when it last held a vote on Mr Bolloré's plans, it fears he could win a surprise victory if it does not "get out the vote".
Today's letter comes after a top ally of Mr Bolloré made a two-day visit to London to build bridges with shareholders.
Cedric de Bailliencourt, the chief executive of Bolloré Investissements - the company through which Mr Bolloré owns his stake in Aegis - met a handful of investors to explain the group's reasons for calling for boardroom representation.
He told them Mr Bolloré had given up hope of getting his way but stressed that the Bolloré Group was a long-term investor that has spent €600m (£400m) investing in Aegis.
The Bolloré Group argues it has a right to boardroom representation, citing parallels with media companies such as NTL and BSkyB.
This is Mr Bolloré's second attempt to get two of his associates voted onto the Aegis board, having failed to win over investors at Aegis's annual meeting in June.
Aegis - which owns the Carat and Vizeum media buying networks - believes the move would represent a conflict of interest as Mr Bolloré is the chairman and a major shareholder at one of its rivals, the French advertising group Havas.
Many analysts believe Mr Bolloré's push for boardroom representation is an opening gambit in a push to acquire the company.
The financier cannot add significantly to his stake - acquired since August last year - without crossing the 30% threshold at which he would be obliged under City rules to make a takeover bid.
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