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Nicolas Beytout, editor of Le Figaro newspaper, is to head the media unit of luxury group LVMH that has just acquired the financial daily Les Echos, reporters from Les Echos said.
Les Echos journalists found out about Beytout's move from French President Nicolas Sarkozy during an off-the-record briefing on Friday evening, one source close to the matter said.
Sarkozy is a close friend of LVMH owner Bernard Arnault and critics say the President wields considerable power in the media world thanks to his network of influential contacts.
Les Echos journalists said in a statement they acknowledged the nomination of Beytout even though it had not yet been officially announced by Le Figaro.
"The intrusion of Nicolas Sarkozy confirms the threats to editorial independence Les Echos faces after having been acquired by LVMH," Les Echos journalists said.
Le Figaro declined to comment and said it did not know when it would put out a state-ment.
Beytout was editor of Les Echos until 2004 and his family was a long-time shareholder until it sold its majority stake to British media group Pearson in 1988.
The paper's ownership changed again this month after the media division of LVMH, D.I. Group, secured its acquisition in spite of opposition from Les Echos journalists.
They feared their editorial independence would be weakened if the paper became part of an industrial group with interests ranging from retail to fine wines.
LVMH has given Les Echos journalists guarantees of editorial independence but they said yesterday these were "not genuine".
D.I Group is in exclusive talks to sell La Tribune, the loss-making rival of Les Echos, to Alain Weill, the media entrepreneur behind the BFM radio and TV group.
LVMH owns Radio Classique and magazines Le Monde de La Musique, Connaissance des Arts and Investir.
- Reuters
