Orange announced that it would withdraw its offer to buy media group Le Monde following the Supervisory Board meeting that is being held today.
The French operator and its partner, Le Nouvel Observateur, had previously said that they would withdraw their…
Orange announced that it would withdraw its offer to buy media group Le Monde following the Supervisory Board meeting that is being held today.
The French operator and its partner, Le Nouvel Observateur, had previously said that they would withdraw their offer in the case of a negative vote by the Societe des Redacteurs of Le Monde.
Last Friday, 90% of the Societe des Redacteurs voted in favour of a bid from a rival consortium of businessmen Lazard banker Matthieu Pigasse, industrialist Pierre Berge and Xavier Niel, the founder of ISP Free.
This is a blow for French president Nicolas Sarkozy as the consortium is said to be close to the Socialist Party. Controversy arose earlier this month after the president threatened Le Monde’s head, Eric Fottorino, with the withdrawal of public funding for the printing business if the consortium was to buy the media group.