Havas eyes about 5 pct organic sales growth this year

* Havas CEO sees strong demand in U.S. and Latam

* Havas (Other OTC: HAVSF - news) unveils five acquisitions for undisclosed amount

* CEO says has "lot of funds available" and "low leverage"

* Havas shares are up about 12 percent this year (Adds CEO comments, share price performance, details)

By Leila Abboud

CANNES, France, June 24 (Reuters) - Advertising agency Havas is aiming for organic revenue growth of about 5 percent this year, fueled by strong demand in the United States and Latin America, Chief Executive Yannick Bollore said on Wednesday.

The world's fifth-largest advertising holding company, which is majority owned by French tycoon Vincent Bollore's eponymous group, believes it can pick up new business this year as an unprecedented $27 billion in media buying and planning contracts come up for review in the U.S.

The CEO said that Havas was in a good position since it only had to defend one contract, namely that of retailer Sears , which is expected to be decided by the autumn. It is also pitching for an $18 billion contract with food maker General Mills (NYSE: GIS - news) .

"We are challengers rather than incumbents, so this spate of reviews is more of an opportunity than a risk," Bollore (Other OTC: BOIVF - news) said in an interview at the Cannes Lions advertising conference.

Havas, which competes with larger WPP (LSE: WPP.L - news) , Publicis (Paris: FR0000130577 - news) and Omnicom, has grown faster than competitors in recent quarters as it reaps the fruits of a strategy to reorganise by pushing creative teams to work more closely with their media planning and public relations colleagues.

The 35-year old CEO said the shift was key to the improved Havas results and was about two-thirds completed. Integrating teams in London by combining seven offices into one will happen by early 2017, he said, once new headquarters near King's Cross are constructed.

Havas, which owns agencies BETC and Cake, also announced five acquisitions on Wednesday for an undisclosed amount. They include Grupo Tribu, a central American group with 250 staff, and Just: Health Communications in London.

Bollore declined to say what his budget for acquisitions would be in the coming years.

"We don't want to buy things just for the sake of it," he said. "But we have a lot of funds available and have low leverage."

Asked whether Havas would remain independent given a recent spate of consolidation among ad agencies, he said the company was protected from takeover by the Bollore Group holding 60 percent.

"Given the good commercial dynamic we are on, Havas sees itself more as a consolidator than a target," said Bollore, adding that two additional acquisitions were in the pipeline.

Havas shares have risen about 12 percent this year, for a market capitalisation of 3.2 billion euros ($3.58 billion). The European media index is up 19 percent. ($1 = 0.8948 euros) (Editing by James Regan)