Arnaud Lagardere , who had stepped down from his executive roles of chairman and CEO of the listed French media conglomerate Lagardere on April 29 after being indicted over embezzlement charges, is back at the helm of the company. Lagardere had been provisionally banned from holding executive office by a Paris court and accused by French prosecutors of “misappropriating company funds.” His lawyers, Sébastien Schapira and Dimitri Grémont, then appealed the decision and were able to obtain on June 28 “the partial lifting of the management activities ban,” Lagardere Group said in a release.
Vivendi , the parent company of Canal+ Group, owns a controlling stake in the company, which spans radio stations, retail outlets and publishing, including the magazine Paris Match and the radio station Europe 1. Hachette is Lagardere’s best-known subsidiary internationally, having published blockbuster titles including Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series. Commenting on his comeback, Lagardere thanked Jean-Christophe Thiery who had served as interim CEO and chairman (and is also president of the supervisory board of Canal+) and said he was “obviously delighted to be resuming (his) position as Chief Executive Officer of the Group that bears (his) name and to be reunited with the talented teams that I now have the honor of leading to future success.
” He also thanked the directors of Lagardère SA, and the shareholders, “especially our leading shareholder, the Bollore�.
