The French luxury giant LVMH, led 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 Matchannounced Lagardère this Tuesday, February 27.
The media group, recently swallowed by Vivendi, “received a purchase offer for the title Paris Match from the LVMH group” and “its board of directors has decided to begin exclusive discussions with the latter”, he explains in a press release, on the occasion of its annual results. Contacted by AFP, LVMH confirmed this information.
Already owner of daily newspapers The Parisian And The echoes and shareholder of Lagardère, Bernard Arnault has long coveted his weekly, for which he had already made an offer in 2021.
Decline in turnover of Lagardère’s media division
The possible sale of Paris Match is announced while the Lagardère media center (Europe 1, Europe 2, RFM, JDD, Paris Match) shows a decline in its turnover of 9%, the group said during a conference call on Tuesday.
In November, the media giant Vivendi sold another celebrity magazine, Gala, to the group Le Figaro, 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.