According to the schedule set by the ongoing judicial procedure, today is the last day for submitting takeover files for the Nice-Matin group. We will not revisit the five different candidates we have mentioned on other occasions.
The offer from the employees’ SCOP may have found the support of institutions, at least that of the PACA Region, which could finance the operation with 2 million euros if the Regional Council approves this decision on October 17. However, this information is still “unofficial,” and the Commercial Court will make its final choice in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the employees’ representatives received support yesterday from local communists and ecologists. Annabelle Jaeger, on behalf of the ecologists, was clear: “The regional ecologist representatives have worked on the Nice-Matin takeover project by the employees and wish for the Region to commit to supporting such a project, including with a 2 million euro capital participation.
This position, by President Michel Vauzelle, will be submitted to the regional councilors’ vote on October 17. Here is our position, in the name of defending the freedom and plurality of the press, without intervening in the newspaper’s editorial line.
On the same line, we find the communist representatives of the General Council, who, through Jacques Victor, express their choice: “The Nice-Matin takeover file is entering a crucial phase, the Commercial Court’s decision on the various takeover offers being due on October 13.
It is becoming increasingly clear that only one offer, that of the SCOP-SCIC supported by the employees and their representatives, aligns with an economic vision that preserves the group’s integrity, the industrial tool, and especially employment by integrating the elements of the already negotiated Social Plan.
The others, unequivocally, are based on a financial logic aiming to dismantle the group for the best financial gain from its assets, notably real estate, all with a heavy social impact on local employment.”
Finally, Cécile Dumas, departmental secretary of PCF06, raises her voice against the silence of local institutions governed by the right: “The project of the Collective Interest Cooperative Society (SCIC), known as SCOP, initiated by the employees, is recognized by the President of the Regional Council as an economic project of regional and local interest for the daily information of the population and job preservation. The Region is ready to aid the SCOP’s takeover with a 2 million euro loan.
It would be incomprehensible if the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur and the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes did not invest in maintaining employment and information in our department, while the PACA Region is committed and opens an interesting door.”
Indeed…
