Arnaud Lagardere, who had stepped down from his executive roles of chairman and CEO of the listed French media conglomerateLagardereon April 29 after being indicted over embezzlement charges, is back at the helm of the company.
Lagardere had been provisionally banned from holding executive office by a Paris court and accused by French prosecutors of “misappropriating company funds.” His lawyers, Sébastien Schapira and Dimitri Grémont, then appealed the decision and were able to obtain on June 28 “the partial lifting of the management activities ban,” Lagardere Group said in a release.
Vivendi, the parent company of Canal+ Group,owns a controlling stake in the company, which spans radio stations, retail outlets and publishing, including the magazine Paris Match and the radio station Europe 1. Hachette is Lagardere’s best-known subsidiary internationally, having published blockbuster titles including Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series.
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Commenting on his comeback, Lagardere thanked Jean-Christophe Thiery who had served as interim CEO and chairman (and is also president of the supervisory board of Canal+) and said he was “obviously delighted to be resuming (his) position as Chief Executive Officer of the Group that bears (his) name and to be reunited with the talented teams that I now have the honor of leading to future success.”
He also thanked the directors of Lagardère SA, and the shareholders, “especially our leading shareholder, the Bolloré family – for their confidence, support and abiding concern for the proper governance of the Group and smooth continuation of its activities in the interests of all stakeholders, in particular its employees.”
Vivendi finalized the acquisition of Lagardere during the second half of 2023 after addressing anti-trust concerns which led the group to sell its other publishing group Editis and Gala magazine, a flagship title of Prisma Group. Perceived as Vivendi’s new crowned jewel, Lagardere saw its revenue rise by 16.6% in 2023, thanks to the travel retail and publishing activities.
With operations in over 40countries worldwide, Lagardere has approximately 31,300 people in its payroll and generated revenues of more than 8 billion euros ($8.5 billion) in 2023.
