Staff at Les Echos, France's top financial daily, have gone on strike for the third time in three weeks to protest against the possible sale of their title to luxury group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy by UK owner Pearson.
The latest strike comes as Bernard Arnault, the LVMH chief executive and chairman, said today he would guarantee Les Echos's editorial independence if he bought it.
Journalists at Les Echos downed tools last night, preventing the publication of today's print edition. Its website has not been updated today and the site's homepage is currently empty, aside from two articles relating to the protest.
Les Echos employees are not satisfied by proposals made by Pearson and LVMH to guarantee their editorial independence. "The proposals [made] do not safeguard [it] at all and are therefore unacceptable," they said in a statement.
Journalists are protesting because they fear Arnault will try to influence the paper. LVMH, the owner of Christian Dior, is one of France's largest private groups and is constantly covered in Les Echos.
Arnault, one of the country's leading businessmen, is also a close friend of Nicolas Sarkozy - he was the French president's best man at his second wedding in 1996.
Arnault today denied he would try to influence Les Echos's editorial line.
"Les Echos will be completely independent. They have always covered LVMH objectively and I don't see why this would change. I am committing myself to this: journalists will have complete freedom to write," Arnault told the centre-right daily Le Figaro today, in his first interview about the row. Arnault also said he could remain a minority shareholder in La Tribune, France's other business title and the only rival to Les Echos.
LVMH previously said it would sell La Tribune if it bought Les Echos, triggering protests including a strike by La Tribune staff, who fear Arnault will be in a position to decide who will be Les Echos' competitor. "To show our commitment to the future of [La Tribune], we are ready to remain a minority shareholder. We will be careful to find a buyer who is a solid investor and is committed [to the future of the title]. We will sell La Tribune, not give it away," said Arnault, adding that he already had received offers from "serious groups".
Asked whether he would consider buying the Financial Times, Arnault did not dismiss the possibility. "As far as I know the Financial Times is not for sale. But, if everything goes well with Les Echos, one can imagine other things can happen in the future."
