Prominent French outlet Le Monde needs €125 million to get out of its debt condition, according to Electron Libre. The group must return €70 million in redeemable bonds, insure €30 million of its working capital and cover its €25 deficit. Le Nouvel Observateur suggested that Le Monde might "disappear" unless a solution is found by June 2010.

Le Monde will be finalising its plan for recapitalization in the upcoming weeks before passing it through the shareholders, AFP reported April 9. The daily's supervisory board said that a major Spanish publishing firm, Grupo Prisa, would be embarking on a capital venture with Monde Imprimerie to bring about "modernization." According to 20 Minutes, the group's board of Journalists, which currently owns the majority of Le Monde, may lose control of the capital.

"Strongly indebted" Le Monde, according to AFP, devised the plan to uphold a healthy balance sheet "while respecting the editorial independence of its titles," revealed a press communiqué. The deal may help to "dilute" previous shareholders, which would become a minority. Last year, Le Monde saw a €25 million loss after depreciations.

Electron Libre affirmed that bank firm BNP Paribas would be providing a bridging loan of €25 million that would expire on March 31, 2011. Also, €22 million in redeemable bonds (of which BNP accounts for €5.7 million) must be re-payed by January 1, 2012. The remaining €47 million have to reimbursed by January 1, 2014 (€12 million ascribed to advertiser Publicis).