Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky has entered into exclusive negotiations with Vivendi to acquire 100% of Editis, France's second largest publishing group.
Mired for months in discussions with the European Commission, Vincent Bolloré's group must, in fact, sell Editis, which brings together more than fifty houses (Robert Laffont, Plon, Julliard, etc.), to obtain the approval of Brussels to its takeover bid (OPA) on Lagardère, which would give it effective control of the Hachette Livre group – the world's third largest publisher.
The Czech magnate has accelerated his investments in the French media in recent years via his press group CMI France (Elle, Télé 7 jours, Marianne). He is also an indirect shareholder of Le Monde, bailed out Liberation to the tune of 15 million euros and owns more than 5% of the TF1 group.
More information to come
