Xavier Niel, founder of French broadband Internet provider Iliad, arrives for a hearing on the concentration of media ownership in the country, at the French Senate in Paris, France, February 18, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies NJJ Presse SASU FollowPARIS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - NJJ Presse, a holding of French telecoms maverick Xavier Niel, has purchased Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's stake in daily Le Monde and committed to transferring this and its existing stake to a fund defending press freedom, it said on Saturday. Finance tycoon Matthieu Pigasse, who had sold part of his stake in Le Monde to Kretinsky, will also put his shares in the fund, NJJ said. The Financial Times had reported shortly before that an agreement was close on a buyout of the shares of the Czech energy magnate, a transaction worth around 50 million euros. ($1 = 0.9388 euros)Reporting by Gilles Guillaume and Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Xavier Niel, Sarah Meyssonnier, Daniel Kretinsky's, NJJ, Matthieu Pigasse, Gilles Guillaume, Sybille de La, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: French, REUTERS, Le Monde, NJJ Presse, NJJ, Fund, Reuters . Finance, Financial Times, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, NJJ, Czech, Le, NJJ Presse