NJJ Presse, holding company of billionaire Xavier Niel, announced in a statement on Saturday that it had bought Daniel Kretinsky’s shares in the newspaper The world with a view to transferring them to the endowment fund intended to guarantee the independence of the newspaper.
“All of the shares held since 2019 by the company of Mr. Daniel Kretinsky in the company Le Nouveau Monde were acquired by NJJ Presse (…) with the irrevocable commitment of NJJ Presse to transfer these shares, together with the shares already owned directly, in the Press Independence Fund,” reads a press release sent to Reuters.
Daniel Kretinsky, who has increased his investments in the major media in recent years, specifies for his part that “he will continue to support French stocks and guarantee his independence as a shareholder”, for example in She, Marianneor the review franc-stireur“or as a lender” for the newspaper Release.
A transaction valued at around 50 million euros
At the end of these movements, adds NJJ, the first two shareholders of the Société Éditatrice du Monde will be this endowment fund and the Independence Pole which brings together editorial companies, personnel companies and the society of readers of Le Monde .
Xavier Niel’s holding company adds that, as things stand, the company Le Nouveau Monde remains a limited partnership whose control remains in the hands of Matthieu Pigasse. The investment banker, a member of the trio of businessmen including Xavier Niel, who had come to the rescue of the newspaper the previous decade, “will guarantee the transfer of his shares in the company Le Nouveau Monde to the Fund’s endowment”, says NJJ .
HE Financial times had reported shortly before that an agreement was close to the purchase of the Czech energy magnate’s shares, a transaction valued at around 50 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
