This Monday, April 24, the businessman of Czech origin took a hit. His company EP Global Commerce has just proposed to the distributor Casino, of which he is already a shareholder, a capital increase of 1,100 million euros that could mean a change of control of the group.
Editing, your new take
At the same time, the billionaire confirmed his desire to buy the Editis publishing group from Vivendi. Last month, Vincent Bolloré, the group’s majority shareholder, was forced to sell this subsidiary to take over the more internationally competitive French rival group Hachette.
Daniel Kretínský here expands his investments in his French business empire, which began in 2018 in the press.
“Coal Emperor”
His career began in the Czech Republic, the country of origin of this lawyer born into a Francophile family who studied law in Dijon. In 2009, he became president of EPH, a thermal energy production and distribution company, and bought coal-fired power plants in Europe, convinced they had a future. This is a pattern he will repeat many times: target undervalued sectors and launch large-scale financial operations there.
In 2019, the acquisition of the French activities of the German energy company Uniper, renamed “GazelEnergie”, was finalized. Since then, the “emperor of coal” – that’s how he earned his nickname – has bought two coal-fired power plants in France, Saint-Avold (Moselle) and Gardanne (Bouches-du-Rhône), but also two solar parks and six parks wind farms Energy continues to be his goose that lays the golden eggs: in 2021, his EPH holding company generated a turnover of almost 19 billion euros, including 2 billion for the French market alone.
These profits have also allowed him to obtain the 43 million euros necessary to take over the Château du Marais, in Val-Saint-Germain in Essonne.
Distribution, a long-term vision
Before attacking Casino, the billionaire had already invested in the German wholesaler Metro in November 2022 through his company EP Global Commerce. In March, he increased his participation in the Fnac-Darty group, specialized in the distribution of cultural goods and household appliances and electronics, to 25%, becoming its main shareholder.
Also through his Luxembourg company Vesa Equity Investment, he bought part of the shares of postal groups in the United Kingdom (Royal Mail) and the Netherlands (Post NL). He also owns a stake in the British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.
The businessman seems to be playing long-term investment in apparently inefficient groups: Fnac-Darty registered a net loss of 32 million euros in 2022, and Casino announced last March 316 million euros in losses and a global debt of more than 6 billion by the end of 2022.
media base
The media will remain his main investment for a long time, first in the Czech Republic with his holding company Czech Media Invest (CMI), which currently owns three daily newspapers. In 2018, he landed on the French media scene buying in particular the titles Marianne, She, TV 7 days AND Dissident.
Daniel Kretínský then took control of the shares of the financier Matthieu Pigasse in the company Le Monde libre, shareholder of the newspaper The world. This arrival will cause a stir within the editorial staff that opposes it. Finally, it imposes that any change in the management control of Le Monde is subject to a “right of approval”, that is, a right of veto of all the shareholders of the newspaper to guarantee its editorial independence.
In January 2022, this self-proclaimed Francophile announced an unconditional loan of 15 million euros to rescue the coffers of Release. But a few months later, the Society of Magazine Publishers Marianne accuses him of “interference”, saying he tried to change the newspaper’s front page in favor of then-presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.
On the television side, Daniel Kretínský launched channel B Smart in 2020, specializing in economics and business life. Since the end of 2021, he also owns shares in the capital of TF1, through his company Vesa Equity Investment.
Since then, the Czech has bought the quarterly publication Usbek & Rica and bought shares in the Louie Media podcast studio. Having coveted Brut web video media, he would now be looking at its competitor Loopsider.
Source: BFM TV
