Fort-de-France (AFP)
France-Antilles was placed Thursday in liquidation without continuation of activities, meaning that Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana will become the only regions of France without daily newspaper, announced the mixed commercial court of Fort-de-France .
The France-Antilles group, in receivership since June 25, 2019, employed 235 employees in three separate editions in the three overseas departments. Formerly a subsidiary of the Hersant group, the daily was created in March 1964 on the occasion of the official visit of President Charles de Gaulle to Martinique.
Only the radio subsidiaries of the three editions are sold to a buyer.
In their Thursday morning front page, the employees had already expressed their pessimism: "Dear readers, you may have in your hands the latest edition of your France-Antilles newspaper, created in 1965".
The newspaper anticipated the decision of the commercial court of Fort-de-France to put in liquidation its publishing company owned by AJR Participations, the company of Aude Jacques-Ruettard, the majority shareholder of the newspaper and granddaughter of the press boss Robert Hersant.
"The Antilles and Guyana will be the first and therefore the only regions of France to be deprived of a daily newspaper", continues the daily in one. He also underlines "the social cataclysm" which "throws 235 employees and their families, from Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana" into the street.
The commercial court had left until Wednesday evening (Martinique time) for the shareholder to provide "additional elements related to the financial closure" of its takeover offer, presented on January 14 last. But AJR Participations failed to complete its financing plan.
The shareholder had to find an additional 1.3 million euros, the State having granted aid of three million to add to the other three million euros from investors.
© 2020 AFP