Strike action continues as French racing paper Paris-Turf changes hands

France's most famous and revered racing paper, Paris-Turf, entered a new and uncertain era on Tuesday after a court awarded control of its parent company to a bid headed by telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel.

At the same time unions vowed to carry on fighting as strike action kept Paris-Turf off newsstands for a ninth day. At stake are the futures of ten titles employing 250 full-time staff and freelancers.

After suffering significant loss of revenue during the coronavirus pandemic, Paris-Turf and its sister publications were placed into administration in May by majority shareholder Jacques-Henri Eyraud – also president of Olympique Marseille football club – with a commercial tribunal setting a deadline of June 22 to receive proposals from potential projects to buy all or part of the group.

Paris-Turf: strike action has kept the racing paper off newsstands for a ninth dayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Staff walked out on the day of the court hearing when the list of potential buyers was reduced to Niel's NPP bid and one other led by racing publisher Mayeul Caire.

That second offer aimed to safeguard 185 jobs and preserve the group's headquarters in Aix-en-Provence alongside editorial offices in the Paris suburb of Chatillon.

Much of the staff's ire until now has been directed towards Eyraud for what many believe was his role in Paris-Turf's long-term decline and what they see as his hasty disposal of the company under what is termed "pre-pack liquidation".

NPP has in recent times bought two regional titles in the south-east of the country, while in a private capacity Niel is also a major shareholder in national newspaper Le Monde.

Niel founded the Free mobile phone company and among the few details to emerge about his plans are a focus on accelerating the transition to digital publishing, although a spokesperson said NPP "does not support the abandonment of print versions of the flagship daily titles".

An annual budget of between €3m and €4m for the next three years has been promised for modernisation projects.

Union leaders claim the Niel bid was being piloted from within by the current management, while it contains much less by way of commitment to saving jobs.

Under his proposal staff numbers will be reduced to 151 and the Aix-en-Provence site will be closed.

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