An offer to three, hoping that the union will make strength. The three businessmen Stéphane Courbit, Daniel Kretinsky and Pierre-Edouard Stérin filed at the last minute, Wednesday February 15, a joint offer with the seller, the Vivendi group, to buy the publishing group Editis (Robert Laffont, Plon, Bordas, 10/18…). The Czech billionaire (who owns the magazines Marianne, Elle et TV 7 Days and is also an indirect shareholder of Monde) had been the first to officially state that he was interested and was initially considering a solo application.
Stéphane Courbit, the founding audiovisual producer of Banijay and Betclic (sports betting), Daniel Kretinsky and Pierre-Edouard Stérin, the founder of Smartbox have joined forces in the home stretch, according to information from The letter a published Thursday, February 16.
The suitors had until February 15 to submit their final offer to the three banks – Lazard, BNP Paribas and Hottinguer – mandated by the group of Vincent Bolloré. The Italian publisher Mondadori, controlled by the Berlusconi family, the Canadian group Quebecor and the Reworld press group have also made a purchase offer. Vivendi, like the candidates, declined to comment.
The Courbit-Kretinsky-Stérin trio would have agreed that within Editis, any decision would be voted unanimously and that a general manager or a general manager of the company would have the task of guaranteeing the independence of the 53 publishing houses. Their intention is to give it the means to work, even if it means making new acquisitions.
Potential conflict of interest situation
If Stéphane Courbit wanted to join these two allies, it is undoubtedly also to demonstrate his sincerity as to his desire to ensure the independence of the house. The producer, who is offering to invest individually in Editis, through his holding company LOV Group, is a friend of Vincent Bolloré. However, Vivendi is already a 19.6% shareholder in FL Entertainment, the listed group of Mr. Courbit which oversees Banijay and Betclic, which can create a potential conflict of interest situation.
Renouncing its idea of a mega-merger between Hachette and Editis, Vivendi announced, at the end of July 2022, its decision to separate from Editis
That said, Pierre-Edouard Stérin corresponds to the profile of “Bolloré-compatible” bosses and is often cited among Eric Zemmour’s supporters, underlines The letter a. Catholic, domiciled in Brussels, he invested in the Puy du Fou park of the de Villiers family. He recently co-financed the feature film Win or die, by Vincent Mottez and Paul Mignot, on the Chouans in Vendée. “Moving from the hands of Bolloré to that of support from Puy du Fou and Zemmour, there is reason to be afraid of the future”comments an employee of Editis.
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