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Lagardère to buy Europe 1
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April 12, 1999: 10:26 a.m. ET
French conglomerate bids $2.85B for remaining shares of radio unit
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LONDON (CNNfn) - French magazines-to-missiles group Lagardère said Monday it will pay 2.63 billion euros ($2.85 billion) to buy the remaining 55 percent stake in Europe 1 Communications it does not already own.
The move was welcomed by analysts, who said it will reassure the market about the company's strategy after it spins off its Matra defense unit later this year. Lagardère stock was up 2.3 percent at 31 euros in Paris.
Lagardère (PMMB) currently owns 45 percent of the Europe 1 through two subsidiaries, but controls almost 55 percent of the voting rights. "It's good, it simplifies and clarifies the group," one French analyst told Reuters.
The bid for Europe 1, whose operations include the eponymous French radio station and a billboard advertising unit, has also raised the prospect that the group will make a buy-in offer for the outstanding shares in its other major media subsidiary: Hachette, Filipacchi Medias (PCHI). Hachette shares gained 6 percent in Paris Monday.
Lagardère shares have come under pressure in recent weeks as investors worried about its media strategy following the merger of its Matra unit into an enlarged Aérospatiale defense group. Lagardère will take a 33 percent holding in the newly-created defense group.
-- from staff and wire reports
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Lagardere
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