Rhône Media spurns Chairman of the Board of Directors

 At the Annual General Meeting of the Valais media group Rhône Media, Chairman of the Board of Directors Jean-Marie Fournier was not re-elected. Fournier's undoing was apparently that he had already announced his resignation but then stood for re-election. The Board members Hildebrand de Riedmatten, Maurice Tornay, Jean-Marie Bringhen and Antonin Gross were re-elected and now share the chairmanship between them. Edipresse, which holds a 37.5 percent stake in Rhône Media, was particularly displeased by Fournier's fickleness. The non-reappointment was a matter of principle, SDA quotes from an Edipresse communiqué. The rebuff had nothing to do with the person. In contrast, the spurned candidate claims that Edipresse was well aware that he was standing for re-election. Fournier suspects that Edipresse's intention to take control of Rhône Media's most important product, Le Nouvelliste, was behind his dismissal. Fournier, who owns 20 percent of the shares in Rhône Media, has already announced his intention to fight back.