Online business: Lagardère gives up

If you click on Digitall.fr, here is the message you will get: “Dear clients, we regret to inform you that the digital.fr shop will definitely close on August 31st 2001”. (../..) All of the orders send before September 1st will be honoured”. But, no problem: there should not be any ulterior orders. The French multimedia entertainment site that the Lagardère group has launched early 2000 closed on August 31st 2001. With an heavy deficit, Digital.fr did search for a rescuer. Negotiations were conducted in July 2001 with Pere-noel.fr, another electronic business site for the general public. The acquisition had even been decided but it has not concretised in the end. So, Lagardère has preferred to give up. As they stop online business, they really intend to focus on services to companies, publishing and syndication of content. A sector in which they are largely leader.