Type
Merger/Acquisition
Country
France
Region
Méditerranée; Provence-Alpes-Côte d\'Azur; Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Location of affected unit(s)
Nice
Sector
Information / Communication
Publishing Of Information; Production And Programming Of Audiovisual
Publishing Activities
58.13 - Publishing of newspapers

115 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
13 February 2020
Employment effect (start)
1 March 2020
Foreseen end date
31 December 2020

Description

The regional daily newspaper Nice Matin has been taken over by NJJ company. The takeover plan provides for the dismissal of 80 employees and 35 journalists (out of 200 journalists), that is 115 job cuts. 

The takeover of the newspaper was approved by a general meeting of employee shareholders. The group has been operating as a cooperative since 2014. The newspaper, which was loss-making, was 66% controlled by the group's 421 employee shareholders via a cooperative. NJJ bought back the shares for a proposed amount of around €5 million, which represents five times the initial stake for the employees concerned.

The regional press group Nice Matin publishes the titles 'Nice-Matin', 'Var-Matin' and 'Monaco-Matin. It has also taken over 11% of ‘La Provence’, a regional daily newspaper based in Marseille. Xavier Niel has already invested massively in this sector in ‘Le Monde’, ‘Mediawan’ but also to support ‘Les Jours’, ‘Mediapart’, ‘Atlantico’.  The entrepreneur is reportedly planning to invest €50 million to buy Nice-Matin and ensure its development.


Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Nice Matin, Merger/Acquisition in France, factsheet number 99788, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/99788.