LVMH buys Les Echos from Pearson

Staff are not happy with the sale to LVMH

Luxury goods company LVMH has bought Les Echos, the biggest-selling business newspaper in France, from the Pearson media group for 240m euros (£167m).

The sale comes after a four-month period of negotiation.

LVMH, which already owns several publications in France, including La Tribune, has pledged to uphold Les Echos' editorial independence.

Les Echos staff are against the deal, however, and plan to block production of Tuesday's edition in protest.

Les Echos has an annual turnover of 126m euros and a circulation of more than 119,000.

Pearson still owns the Financial Times and the Penguin publishing house, and has part-ownership of the Economist Group.