Bernard Arnault dreamed of offering himself Paris Match and The Sunday newspaper. The billionaire made an offer for the two influential titles of the Lagardère group in the spring of 2021, as revealed The world, June 29. Until then, the emperor of luxury had never confirmed the information. But that was without taking into account the Senate commission of inquiry into media concentration, which received Bernard Arnault on Thursday, January 20.
At the very end of the hearing, the rapporteur David Assouline (socialist, ecologist and republican) specifically asked whether his group had offered Arnaud Lagardère to buy the people weekly and the daily newspaper Seventh Day from him. Bernard Arnault then replied: “My teams probably looked at different things, but we never made a proposal, no. » Except that before a commission of inquiry, where one takes an oath, any perjury is liable to criminal sanction.
This threat had its effect. As of the end of Thursday’s hearing, LVMH « a pris contact » with the Senate to rectify this assertion, explained Laurent Lafon (union of democrats, radicals and liberals), the president of this commission of inquiry, Friday January 21, at 2:30 p.m., in the preamble to the hearing of the day (reserved to the founders of news sites L’Opinion, Mediapart, The 1 weekly and Days).
“No prosecution will be initiated”
Then, in the afternoon, Bernard Arnault’s teams sent a written erratum, the content of which the senator summarized: LVMH did indeed make a unilateral offer formalized on April 2, 2021, but this remained without continuation. “Given the speed of the correction”, it will not be held against Bernard Arnault for having made a mistake, and “no prosecution will be initiated” against him. His letter will simply be added to the final report, added David Assouline.
According to our information, the billionaire had offered 80 million euros for the two titles and was ready to go up to 100 million euros. At that time, he was still officially the ally of Arnaud Lagardère in his limited partnership (the old fortress which protected him from any takeover bid). But Vincent Bolloré, first shareholder, and Arnaud Lagardère were then in full patching. The two men ultimately did not want to let go of these two agents of influence one year before the presidential election.
“Benefactor of the press”
The offer of the founder of LVMH therefore remained a dead letter. It nevertheless confirms some of the reasons that led Bernard Arnault to invest in the Lagardère group in April 2020. His interest in these two flagships of the French press also brings a different perspective to Bernard Arnault’s interest in the sector.
The day before, the billionaire had portrayed himself in front of the senators as a benefactor of the press. Most of the time, he said, it is natural newspaper owners who come to him for help. And when he responds, it’s in the name of “of the general interest”. To the exclusion of any other objective.