Rubis rises after Bolloré increases stake to over 5%

** Shares in Rubis RUI rise almost 6% after French businessman Vincent Bolloré increased its stake in the French liquid products distributor to over 5%

** Bolloré's stake in Rubis, which now exceeds the thresholds of 5% of the capital and voting rights at 5.03%, comes through Plantations des Terres Rouges, which Bolloré controls, said the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) in a statement on Monday

** Portzamparc sees this as a financial investment, says the stock seems undervalued and offers a high yield of above 7%

** "Rubis is a partnership limited by shares, a status which did not prevent Bolloré from taking control of Lagardère MMB, but under special conditions (high level of debt of the Lagardère family holding company)", Portzamparc notes

** Bolloré's intentions are unknown at this stage and there has been no particular contact between Rubis and him, the broker says

** Bolloré is not likely to take control of Rubis in the short/medium term, says Oddo, upgrading its rating to "outperform" from "neutral"

** The group is among the top performers of pan-European STOXX 600 index SXXP, with share price at highest level since Feb 2022 at 29.70 euros