Dassault's assault

摘要

How independent is the French press? Two big defence groups, Lagardere and Dassault, and two luxury-goods groups, Moeet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), already control a big chunk of the French newspaper business. That chunk will soon be even bigger. Serge Dassault, one of the richest men in France and the main owner of Dassault, is about to buy Socpresse, a media group with some 70 publications in France and Belgium, including its flagship, Le Figaro, a French national daily second only to Le Monde.