Arnaud Lagardère returns to executive role at Lagardère

Hachette Livre’s parent Lagardère has said that its board of directors had voted unanimously for Arnaud Lagardère to resume his duties as group chairman and c.e.o.

Lagardère resigned after he was banned from office temporarily in April following his indictment for vote buying, abuse of power and dissemination of false or misleading information. He rejected the charges and said he would appeal the ban.

A proposal for Lagardère to recover his post as chairman and c.e.o. of group subsidiary Hachette Livre will shortly be submitted to the latter’s board of directors, the release added.

The move means he will also go back to work as president of Lagardère Commandité SAS and managing partner of Lagardère Radio SCA, the holding company for the Europe 1, Europe 2 and RFM radio networks. 

Lagardère had been banned from office temporarily after charges related to events that took place in 2018 and 2019, and concerned companies that Lagardère owned personally rather than group entities.

Vivendi, a French conglomerate controlled by the Bolloré family, bought the Lagardère group in November after a tussle over anti-trust issues. As part of the sale, Vivendi was obliged to sell off Editis, France’s second-largest publisher and closest rival to Hachette Livre. 

According to an AFP judicial source, the indictment follows an investigation which opened in April 2021.

This followed a complaint filed by the Amber Capital hedge fund, and alerts sent to financial regulator Autorité des Marches Financiers (AMF) and audit regulator Haut Autorité de l’Audit (H2H).

Following the 2003 death of group founder Jean-Luc Lagardère, his son and heir Arnaud is reported to have accumulated debts that forced him to sell the aerospace company EADS and several media outlets.