The French luxury giant LVMH (owner of Parisien - Today in France), headed by billionaire Bernard Arnault, has entered into exclusive negotiations with the Lagardère group, in the fold of billionaire Vincent Bolloré, to buy the magazine Paris Match, announced Lagardère on Tuesday.
The media group, recently swallowed up by Vivendi, “received a purchase offer concerning the Paris Match title from the LVMH group” and “its board of directors decided to begin exclusive discussions with the latter”, explains- he said in a press release on the occasion of its annual results.
Contacted by AFP, LVMH confirmed this information.
Previous offer in 2021
Already owner of the daily newspapers Le Parisien and Les Échos and shareholder of Lagardère, Bernard Arnault has long coveted his weekly, for which he had already made an offer in 2021. The possible sale of Paris Match was announced while Lagardère's media division ( Europe 1, Europe 2, RFM, JDD, Paris Match) posted a decline in its turnover of 9%, the group said during a conference call on Tuesday.
In November, media giant Vivendi sold another celebrity magazine, Gala, to the Le Figaro group, in order to meet EU requirements to buy Lagardère.
In December, Vivendi announced that it was studying a project to split its activities into several listed entities, structured in particular around Canal +, Havas and an investment company including its majority stake in the Lagardère group.