Le Monde editor wants to be "man of compromise"

PARIS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The editor in chief of French newspaper Le Monde wants to be the "man of an historical compromise" between the journalists of the loss-making paper and its corporate shareholders, he said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Eric Fottorino, who is running for CEO, said in an interview with daily Les Echos that a "smart" scenario of a future recapitalisation would be one where Le Monde's capital would be held by several European media groups, including existing shareholders Lagardere (LAGA.PA) and Spain's Prisa (PRS.MC).

Le Monde's external shareholders are due to vote on Friday on Fottorino's candidacy as chief executive as the paper is embroiled in a power struggle between its journalists and shareholders for control of the debt-ridden group.

The crisis comes as staff, who own a majority stake of Le Monde, fear that Prisa and Lagardere could, through a recapitalisation, turn them into minority holders.

With their controlling stake, the staff have a veto over editorship and the post of chief executive.

Earlier this month Prisa, which owns 15 percent of Le Monde and 17 percent of Lagardere, met staff representatives for "an "informal exchange of views", a Lagardere spokeswoman has said.

Fottorino told Les Echos a recapitalisation of the newspaper "must be considered" but was not an emergency.

"If I am elected on Jan. 25, I will propose to set up a commission to assess the issues, the players and the terms of a recapitalisation," he said.

Asked what could be good shareholder structure for the paper, he said: "One can imagine something smart where Le Monde's capital would be held by several European media groups, including Largardere, Spain's Prisa, the editor of El Pais, or our Italian friends of La Stampa...." he said.

"Behind the hand of Lagardere, one too often sees that of Nicolas Sarkozy: sharing the roles would lift all ambiguities," he added.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a close friend of Lagardere Chairman Arnaud Lagardere.

Le Monde is expected to report a loss of about 10 million euros ($14.42 million) in 2007. The recent sale of its Journaux du Midi paper has allowed the company to cut debt to some 20 million euros from 74 million euros but Fottorino said the financial situation should again be "tight" in 2008. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by Sue Thomas)