LVMH's Bernard Arnault is acquiring French glossy Paris Match for €120 million

Luxury conglomerate LVMH, led by Arnault, one of the world's richest people, acquired the magazine in a deal worth 120 million euros ($133 million) first announced in February.

An LVMH statement confirmed the purchase of Paris Match.

Bollore, whose conservative views are reflected on the television channel he owns, CNews, was accused of interfering in the editorial team of the magazine, which still shifts 440,000 printed copies each week.

A fixture on French newsstands, Paris Match is widely read for insight into the lives of the country's cultural and political elite, and shows an insatiable interest in the British royal family and other European monarchies.

It is also known for the quality of its photojournalism, including from war zones.

LVMH, which already owns daily newspaper Le Parisien and business newspaper Les Echos, said in a joint statement with previous owners that the deal “marks the beginning of a new chapter” in the history of Paris Match, which was founded in 1949.

Arnault, whose family fortune is estimated at $190 billion according to Forbes magazine, was quoted as saying that the acquisition would allow Paris Match to “accelerate its development, particularly in the digital space.”

“True to its history and yet looking to the future, I am fully confident that the Paris Match teams will revive the essence of their well-known slogan 'The weight of words, the shock of photos',” he added.

“Paris game in its heyday”

A Paris Match journalist, who did not want to be named, told AFP there was a “desire to restore the Paris Match to its heyday” and “hence a new hire” after the many staff departures in recent years.

Despite expectations of a departure from the line under Bollore, “we don't have a very clearly defined editorial strategy yet,” the journalist added. The editorial team was invited to a meeting on Tuesday.

But the change was “something of a relief for the newsroom,” the journalist said, pointing to the number of front pages in recent months that focused on topics about the Catholic faith, to which Bollore belongs.

A 2022 summer cover dedicated to the ultra-conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah caused particular unrest. The editor-in-chief for politics and economics, Bruno Jeudy, was then replaced by the former CNews presenter Laurence Ferrari.

Bollore, whose Vivendi group acquired the media interests of fellow tycoon Arnaud Lagardere as well as CNews, now controls the Sunday newspaper JDD and the weekly JDNews, which have significant right-wing influence.

CNews is regularly accused by critics of being a mouthpiece for the far right in France.

But Arnault, who regularly meets with the moderate President Emmanuel Macron, is also criticized for his attitude to press freedom.

According to trade publication La Lettre, the billionaire has banned LVMH executives from speaking to seven blacklisted media outlets.