- PARIS: French newspaper Le Monde is set to take its controlling ownership stake away from editorial staff and sell it to an outside buyer — perhaps a foreign one.
The respected daily says it needs help to pay off debts and survive punishing times in the media industry.
Publisher Eric Fottorino says in a front-page note to readers Thursday that a decision on a new majority owner will be made June 14.
Fottorino called it "a historic turning point for Le Monde." Among those interested are Spain's Prisa, owner of El Pais; Switzerland's Ringier, publisher of Le Temps; France's Nouvel Observateur group, which owns several magazines, and one other unnamed foreign company, Le Monde said.