Vincent Bolloré, the French corporate raider who forced a restructuring at Lazard in 2000, has returned to the fray by taking a stake in one of the holding companies that controls the investment bank.

Bolloré has acquired a 2% stake in Rue Impériale, the holding company that controls 17% of the global profits of Lazard. The holding company, which requires shareholders to reveal their identities once they own more than 1% of the company, said that Bolloré first broke the 1% threshold in July and since October 4th has held just over 2% of the company, worth €20.6m at Tuesday's close.