LVMH takes control of “ Match”, after years of lust

LVMH takes control of “ Match”, after years of lust
LVMH takes control of “Paris Match”, after years of lust

Match officially passed Tuesday 1is October in the hands of billionaire Bernard Arnault, leaving the fold of conservative magnate Vincent Bolloré. The luxury giant LVMH, led by Mr. Arnault, and the Lagardère group, swallowed at the end of 2023 by Vivendi, Mr. Bolloré’s group, have finalized the sale of the weekly, announced to everyone’s surprise in February.

“I am very happy to see this illustrious magazine, which has just celebrated its 75th anniversary, join the LVMH family”rejoiced Bernard Arnault, who had already tried to buy the weekly in 2021, thanking “warmly Vincent Bolloré and Arnaud Lagardère”.

“I would like to thank Bernard Arnault and his family, in particular Antoine Arnault”his son in charge of this issue, also declared Arnaud Lagardère. “With the support of the Bolloré family, whose culture and values ​​we share, we are projecting ourselves into the future with strength and ambition”he added.

In April, Arnaud Lagardère described “heartbreaking” the sale of the magazine, which participates in the group’s debt reduction strategy. An emblematic title of photojournalism combining major war reports and immersion in the intimacy of stars and politicians, Paris Match still sells more than 440,000 copies each week.

Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers How Bernard Arnault, the richest man in the world, is expanding his empire beyond luxury

Add to your selections

By integrating LVMH, Paris Match becomes a brand in its own right, independent of the “Les Echos-Le Parisien” press group, also owned by the luxury giant, it is specified. Entity of the group chaired by Arnaud Lagardère definitively absorbed by the Vivendi group since the conclusion, at the end of November 2023, of the public purchase offer (OPA) launched in 2022 by Vincent Bolloré, Paris Match changes ownership once again.

Recruitments

The editorial team remains led by Jérôme Béglé, its general director since 2023 who also becomes publishing director of the newspaper. Pierre-Emmanuel Ferrand, “until then general director of Lagardère News (in charge) of press and digital” is appointed general manager of Paris Match.

Its new owner hears “to resonate with renewed ambition its signature “the weight of words, the shock of photos””. This will notably involve an enhancement of the title’s photo collection and recruitment, according to a source close to the matter, while many journalists have left the title in recent years, against a backdrop of interference attributed to Vincent Bolloré.

It will also be about “double in the short term” the 25,000 digital subscriptions of the title and to strengthen its presence on Instagram or TikTok, explained Tuesday to Figaro Jérôme Béglé, also promising more geopolitics and news items in the subjects covered.

First “Paris Match” on October 10

The writing of Paris Matchlocated at the Parisian headquarters of Lagardère News like that of Sunday Newspaper (JDD) or Europe 1, will move to new premises in 2025, while its management and other support functions will join those of the Les Echos-Le Parisien group.

Le Monde Buying Guides

Reusable water bottles

The best water bottles to replace disposable bottles

Lire

Paroxysm of the shocks experienced by the magazine, its society of journalists (SDJ), guarantor of respect for ethical rules, was scuttled at the start of the year. In the summer of 2022, she was indignant at a cover dedicated to the ultra-conservative cardinal Robert Sarah, then at the dismissal of the political and economic editor-in-chief of Paris Match Bruno Jeudy, replaced by CNews figure Laurence Ferrari.

The latter now chairs the brands JDD and JDNews, a new weekly news magazine launched in September. Less feared than Vincent Bolloré, Bernard Arnault is also the subject of criticism concerning his relationship to the independence of the editorial staff. The first Paris Match from the LVMH era will be released on October 10.

Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers LVMH enters into exclusive negotiations to buy “Paris Match”, revenge for Bernard Arnault

Add to your selections

The World with AFP

Reuse this content
-

-

PREV Producers fear paying for “low prices” Migros
NEXT Tensions increase between Stellantis and the government of this country