Paper Owned By Billionaire’s Son Goes Bankrupt
Published: July 25, 2012 (Issue # 1719)
MOSCOW — A Paris court has ordered the liquidation of the France Soir, a 70-year-old newspaper owned by the son of Russian billionaire Sergei Pugachyov.
Pugachyov’s son, Alexander, purchased the French paper in 2009 in a bid to save it from looming bankruptcy at that time.
He invested some 75 million euros ($90.7 million) into the paper, but bankruptcy became inevitable this year because of its huge debts.
At least 49 people, including 42 journalists, have lost their jobs because of the bankruptcy.
The court ruled Monday that all of the paper’s assets, its archives, trademarks and website domain will be sold in an auction, Kommersant reported.
The auction will be announced in the nearest future. The only offer to buy the assets has been made by Robert Lafont, CEO of the Lafont Presse, which specializes in low cost media, Le Monde reported.