FRANCE. Lagardère SA today revealed that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arnaud Lagardère is to contest an indictment against him issued by a French court on Monday. Lagardère SA is the parent company of Lagardère Travel Retail.
The statement said Arnaud Lagardère had informed Lagardère SA of the indictment, against which he will appeal.
“This indictment essentially concerns facts relating to personal companies wholly owned by Arnaud Lagardère and not involving any Lagardère group companies,” the company said.
“As regards Lagardère SA, the indictment relates solely to facts dating from 2018 and 2019, qualified as vote buying, abuse of power and dissemination of false or misleading information, which Arnaud Lagardère firmly disputes.
“In the context of his indictment, Arnaud Lagardère has been provisionally banned from holding executive office, a measure which he is contesting and against which he intends to appeal, but which nevertheless will oblige him to resign his executive offices within the Group, despite the appeal.
“The directors wish to reiterate that Arnaud Lagardère is presumed innocent, and that an indictment in no way prejudges the outcome of the proceedings.”
The Lagardère SA board met later in the day to decide on provisional arrangements and ensure proper governance in the period pending Arnaud Lagardère returning to his management role.
Acting on the recommendation of the Appointments, Remuneration and CSR Committee, the Board of Directors unanimously decided to name Jean-Christophe Thiery as a director and to appoint him Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère SA.
Note: Lagardère is an international group with operations in more than 40 countries worldwide. It employs some 31,300 people and generated revenue of €8,081 million in 2023.
The Group focuses on three divisions: Lagardère Publishing (Books, E-Books, Partworks, Stationery, Board Games and Mobile Games); Lagardère Travel Retail (Travel Essentials, Duty Free & Fashion and Foodservice); and Lagardère News (Paris Match, Le Journal du Dimanche, JDD Magazine, and the Elle brand licence). ✈
