Fnac Darty is a retail chain that sells books, music and electronics. French average reported on the development about a week after the media conglomerate Vivendi announced exclusive negotiations with one of the companies of the Cretan Empire on the sale of the Editis publishing house, which is the second largest in France.
At the same time, Křetínský, as one of the richest Czechs, already holds a minority stake in the French newspaper Le Monde and, through the CMI holding, also owns several French press titles, including Marianne magazine.
Křetínský had a 20 percent stake in Fnac Darty since last summer, while the largest shareholder was the German company Ceconomy with 24 percent. In February of this year, the BFM Business server reported that Křetínský was going to take over its entire share, which, according to Reuters, would allow him to start the process that will lead to the chain’s shares being withdrawn from the stock exchange.
The AMF office stated that Křetínský, through his Luxembourg company Vesa Equity Investment, intends to continue increasing his stake, but that he does not intend to take control of Fnac Darty by the end of the summer. Also, according to the office, it does not plan to require the nomination of one or more candidates for the company’s board of directors.
Fnac Darty operates a network of almost 1,000 stores, AFP reported. In addition to France, it also operates in several other Western European countries, as well as in Tunisia, Congo and Qatar. Last month, the company announced that its business last year ended with a loss of 32 million euros (over 750 million CZK).
Křetínský submitted an offer to take over the entire Editis publishing company
Economic
