The newspaper Paris-Normandie was placed in receivership on 21 April with a three-month extension by the Rouen Commercial Court. According to an announcement published in Echoes on 24 April, candidates for the takeover of the Seine-Maritime and Eure daily newspapers have until 22 May to submit a buyback offer.
The advertisement states that the sale includes Snic (Société normande d'information et de communication), the newspaper's publisher, which employs 215 people, including 202 permanent staff, and RNP, the newspaper's advertising sales company, which employs 25 people, including 23 permanent staff.
Falling sales and advertising revenue during the coronavirus crisis
The newspaper, which has been in trouble for several years, is said to have suffered a fatal blow with the coronavirus crisis and containment. Sales plummeted and so did advertising revenue. According to France Bleu Normandie who spoke with newspaper director Jean-Luc Sontag, the newspaper lost 90% of its advertising revenue during this crisis
Despite the employees' concerns, there are many reasons for optimism, according to their lawyer, Jesse Lévy. In particular because the newspaper's debt would be eliminated for the buyer and also because the press used to print the title has been paid off. The group had invested more than 1.8 million in 2015 in a new press capable of printing 70?000 copies per hour.
Paris Normandie is also a very strong press brand in the region and boasts a loyal readership.
Founded in Rouen in 1944, the Paris-Normandy regional daily has been owned since 2012 by the SNIC press group, whose majority shareholder since 2017 is Jean-Louis Louvel, a candidate for mayor of Rouen.
