The group has announced a reorganization of its governance. By keeping her antennas away, Lagardère would be keen to show that pluralism is respected.
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What will become of Lagardère, RFM, Europe 1 and Virgin Radio? The group announced, Tuesday, May 10, to study the reorganization of “governance” of the radio pole. With the idea of ”confirming your autonomy”. Main planned track, the grouping of the three branches in “a joint -stock company, whose sponsors partners are companies in the Lagardère group, and whose manager would be Arnaud Lagardère”.
In other words, it would be a question of recreating, within Lagardère, a legal structure which existed before. Until June 2021, Lagardère was managed by a commanditis, which made its leader – in this case Arnaud Lagardère – indelogable. Sign of the robustness of this kind of legal structure, it was ultimately Arnaud Lagardère himself who decided to give it up and transform Lagardère into a classic anonymous society.
What is the need for Lagardère to resort to such a mechanism when the group is the subject of an OPA by the Vivendi group? According to the explanations provided to financial analysts, this would not be a first step before a sale but to give wages to the Arch, the audiovisual regulator which must also make an opinion on the acquisition of Lagardère by Vivendi. The group holds Canal+, C8, CNews, as well as the Prisma newspapers. Bolloré’s appetite for the media has continued to create concern.
financial hemorrhage
By keeping his radios away, Lagardère would be keen to show that it was not Vincent Bolloré who took control of Europe 1, and that pluralism is respected. Except that the Breton industrialist was well at the origin of the cleaning which the general radio was the subject in spring 2021. Before the commanditis was dissolved, and while Arnaud Lagardère claimed its independence.
In the meantime, the radio center is struggling. Europe 1 is deemed to lose around twenty million euros annually. This financial hemorrhage had convinced the station to embark on a cost reduction plan a year ago, at the end of which more than a hundred people were gone. In the fall, it was the turn of the two musical stations, RFM and Virgin Radio, to be forced to a job backup plan. Brought together, the three branches represent a cumulative audience of 9.8 %, or 5.4 million daily listeners, according to the mediammetry statement established for the period January March. That of the flagship, Europe 1, has been in free fall for several years: fallen at 3.9 % at the start of the year, it had reached the record level of 10.1 at the same period in 2010.