NEWSMAKER: LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is continuing to expand its media footprint with the acquisition of French media group Bey Médias.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The luxury group was already a minority shareholder of the company, which publishes daily newspaper L’Opinion and financial news website L’Agefi.

It has bought the stakes of founder Nicolas Beytout as well as those of other shareholders including Théthys, which is owned by L’Oréal’s Bettencourt founding family; American businessman Ken Fisher, and Dow Jones, the group owned by media titan Rupert Murdoch.

According to sources with knowledge of the matter, the acquisition was done through the group’s Ufipar subsidiary. L’Opinion and L’Agefi will be in an entity distinct from the Les Échos – Le Parisien group.

It is understood that the publications’ editorial structures and teams would remain in place. Beytout will continue to serve as the media group’s president as well as president and publishing director of L’Opinion, with Rémi Godeau remaining as editor in chief. Meanwhile, Alexandre Garabedian is staying as editorial director of L’Agefi.

L’Opinion and parent company Bey Médias were created in 2013 by Beytout, former president of Les Echos – purchased by LVMH in 2007 – and former editorial director of Le Figaro. At the time, they received financing from the French luxury group to launch.

Known for its liberal and pro-European stance, it has a partnership with Dow Jones-owned Wall Street Journal, allowing it to translate and publish articles drawn from the American publication.

In 2019, Bey Médias acquired L’Agefi, a 114-year-old publication then owned by Artémis, the Pinault family’s holding company.

Last year, the media group entered unsuccessful negotiations with Czech billionaire businessman Daniel Kretinsky. Prior to that, it was in talks with French-Lebanese global transport tycoon Rodolphe Saadé, who owns several media including business news site La Tribune and TV channel BFMTV.

LVMH also owns French people magazine Paris Match, acquired in October, and has owned daily newspaper Le Parisien and its national counterpart, Aujourd’hui en France, since 2015.