Pierre-Edouard Stérin, Catholic billionaire prepared to purchase “Marianne” | EUROtoday

At the beginning of 2023, Vincent Bolloré welcomes to Villa Montmorency, within the 16^e district of Paris, the shy and smiling Pierre-Edouard Stérin. This different billionaire, fervent Catholic and keen like him to “save France”, got here to speak to him about his present desires, together with the takeover supply from the Editis group – which has since been aborted. Faced with the Breton, who says he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he, initially from Evreux, sees himself as an unpleasant duckling who has had a collection of failures and “worked all his life like a dog” to succeed. Twenty years of constructing Smartbox packing containers develop, which he created and relocated to Ireland, to construct a fortune of 1.2 billion euros, the 104^e of France.

Little recognized to the general public, tax exile in Belgium, the fifty-year-old pushed by the need to “give back” (“give back” in French) intends, furthermore, to disinherit his 5 kids to bequeath this billion to his personal fund. “philanthropy”. And would really like, unhappy that France shuns its nice fortunes, for this to be recognized. He no much less admires in Bolloré the “superentrepreneur” and its highly effective group, whose ultra-conservative opinion channel CNews is consuming into BFM-TV's market share. That the writing of Sunday newspaper (JDD) was decimated doesn’t shock him: an proprietor “do what he wants at home”. Newspapers are not any exception.

This thought inevitably returns, a 12 months later, when Pierre-Edouard Stérin is that this time a candidate for the takeover of the weekly Marianne. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who has invested 20 million euros within the journal – together with 5 million to purchase it – since 2018, is looking for to half with it. And, among the many potential consumers, the Normand figures prominently.

“Buckets of mud”

An supply in “lover of freedom”he stated. “Question of pluralism”he assures Worldfrom his places of work in Brussels, confirming for the primary time his curiosity within the weekly, his marketing strategy in thoughts. ” If Marianne can earn 2 million euros per year, in two or three years, with a convincing growth plan, particularly on the Web, its market price could be multiplied by seven, or 14 millionhe calculates at full speed. If we pay him 10 million, we'll do all the work to earn 4 million, but that's not unreasonable. »

However, on the finish of April, Denis Olivennes, Daniel Kretinsky's right-hand man, was held by his sleeve. “If Kretinsky sells Marianne to a guy like Stérin, he will take buckets of mud”warns Maurice Szafran, co-founder of the journal with Jean-François Kahn. It is important in any respect prices, he pleads, “keep away from that Marianne doesn’t fall into the fingers of somebody from the acute proper ». Three different presents thought-about severe all lean very far to the appropriate of the chessboard. The heirs of Iskandar Safa, house owners of Current valuesare additionally learning the file earlier than taking a place.

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