Czech billionaire businessman Daniel Kretinsky has agreed to finance the loss-making French left-leaning daily Libération until it breaks even, the paper's owners have said.
Kretinsky, already heavily invested in French media as owner of Elle magazine and part-owner of the daily Le Monde, will lend Libération 14 million euros to help stem losses until its projected breakeven in 2026.
In addition, Kretinsky's foundation will inject 1 million euros into the Fund for the Support of Independent Media (FDPI), the majority-owners of Libération, according to an internal announcement made by Libération's managing director Denis Olivennes.
In a press release Tuesday, he assured that "Libération had entered the revolution of digital subscriptions" and praised the "strongest increase in the distribution of the national daily press" observed "for the last year and a half".
The FDPI "welcomes a new quality partner", seeing it as "a pledge of confidence in the future of the newspaper".
Democratic debate
Kretinsky said he was "happy to participate ... to the continued existence of an independent newspaper that is essential to democratic debate".
Despite increasing its circulation by more than 10 percent over the past year, Libération has been unable to stem losses it blames mostly on falling advertising sales during the Covid pandemic.
It now expects to return to profit in 2026, compared to an earlier target of 2023.
Its loss on ordinary operations narrowed to 7.9 million euros in 2021 from 12.3 million euros a year earlier.
Kretinsky's high-profile investments in France include minority stakes in retail chain Casino, and in the electronics, books and media group Fnac Darty.
His last big acquisition in France was the historic 18th-century Chateau du Marais castle outside Paris, adding a luxury hotel project to his existing French media and retailing empire.
The net worth of Kretinsky, 47, is estimated at $5 billion by Forbes magazine, founded on media and energy in the Czech Republic.
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