LVMH in talks to acquire French business magazine Challenges

Paris - Discussions are underway for the potential sale of the French business magazine Challenges to the luxury group LVMH. According to Pierre-Henri de Menthon, the magazine's editor-in-chief, negotiations are scheduled to take place in September between the Arnault family, who own LVMH, and Challenges' majority shareholder, Claude Perdriel.

De Menthon confirmed to AFP that LVMH, which had been expected to acquire the magazine Science et Avenir/La Recherche, is now looking to buy both publications. "They will acquire everything. Or at least, they will make an offer," he stated. LVMH already holds a 40 percent stake in Editions Croque Futur, the publisher of both titles, which it acquired in 2020. An internal communication from Croque Futur noted that a sale, if it happens, would be completed by the end of the first half of 2026 at the latest.

This potential acquisition is the latest move in LVMH's growing media portfolio. The luxury group already owns the newspapers Les Échos and Le Parisien, along with Radio Classique. This year, it also took full ownership of the daily L'Opinion and the financial news website L'Agefi.

Challenges, which describes itself as an "independent economic and political magazine," sold an average of 140,000 copies per issue in 2024, a decline from the 183,000 copies it sold in 2020.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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