Billionaire Vincent Bolloré's ambitions to acquire the number one publisher in France, Hachette Livre, are "
clearly a political problem
", said former Minister of Culture and publisher Françoise Nyssen on Friday.
"
Publishing is also the dissemination of knowledge, the dissemination of ideas
," she said, interviewed by franceinfo.
“
We clearly understand this desire to intervene in the dissemination of knowledge, ideas, stories, stories that shape our world of tomorrow, it is our culture... So there is also a problem of this order , this is clearly a political issue
,” she added.
Read alsoThe Editis-Hachette merger project puts the world of publishing in all its states
The media giant Vivendi, controlled by the Bolloré family and parent company of Editis (number two in publishing in France), must rise to 45% of the capital of the Lagardère group, which owns Hachette Livre, then launch a public offer of acquisition on the balance of the shares.
If the European competition rules will probably not allow Vivendi to keep the two groups as they are, its plans to avoid a dominant position are not known.
There are things that we cannot ignore: when Albin Michel decided to no longer publish Eric Zemmour, he was welcomed by Editis... This is also how we can distribute massively , and support a single current of ideas, which is the one we know
Francoise Nyssen
According to Françoise Nyssen, founder of the Actes Sud editions, "
it is a possibility of capturing all of publishing and of concentrating in the hands of a single person all the ins and outs of the book chain
".
"
It will have resources that will be completely disproportionate to the permanence of a lively, living environment of publishing, with its biodiversity, its multiplicity of voices and opinions
", underlined the former Minister of President Emmanuel Macron.
"
There are things that we cannot ignore: when Albin Michel decided to no longer publish Eric Zemmour, he was welcomed by Editis... This is also how we can distribute massive, and support a single current of ideas,
“, she warned.
