In the long term, which authors will be highlighted in the windows of L’Ecume des pages, one of the rare very large bookstores still independent of the 6e district of Paris ? The idea that Eric Zemmour’s essays occupy a good place there worries the sixteen employees more than ever. Vincent Bolloré’s Vivendi group is in exclusive negotiations for two months with the French Scientific Expansion company, which owns 100% of the capital of this bookstore.
This acquisition remains subject to several conditions precedent, including the performance of audits or the consultation of employees. Vivendi would have offered 4.5 million euros to the four heirs of the Besançon family (two brothers, two sisters), owners of this business located on Boulevard Saint-Germain. The walls are not part of the deal.
Vivendi, the future owner of Hachette Livre would have outbid by 500,000 euros on a proposal from David Frèche, boss of the LDB clothing brand and long-time customer of this bookstore which has 40,000 references. This businessman, friend of the director Loïc Ducroquet, has also opened a small space for L’Ecume des pages in his shop in Saint-Tropez (Var) and created a literary prize for the bookstore.
Political ulterior motive
Knowing that a first potential buyer had been rejected, David Frèche raised a round of funding by bringing together around twenty wealthy lovers of this cultural beacon of Saint-Germain, open every day until midnight. With a clear objective: to maintain the current editorial line of the bookstore and the entire team in place. Moreover, all the staff had, by letter from the social and economic committee, given the green light to this project.
The price of 4 million euros seemed significantly higher than the market, since the turnover of the store amounts to 4.1 million euros. According to the usual ratios used when selling this type of business, the price would be around 2.6 million, but the symbolic nature of this Germanopratine institution explains this premium.
In Saint-Germain-des-Prés, two essential bookstores have already disappeared: a Louis Vuitton store occupies the former premises of La Hune, while Le Divan had to move. After a first meeting, Saturday 1er July, with the heirs of the Besançon family, including the general manager of L’Expansion scientifique française, Isabelle Durand, the director of the bookstore and the chairman of the Vivendi supervisory board, Yannick Bolloré, the latter was to meet the staff of L ‘Ecume des pages, Tuesday, July 4, in the afternoon. In an attempt to reassure them by highlighting Vivendi’s investments in “the development of emblematic places of culture, such as the Olympia, the Théâtre de l’Œuvre” where the “synergies with publishing”says one within the group.
You have 10.51% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.