A Czech businessman who made his fortune in the energy sector has acquired a minority stake in Le Monde, widely considered France's most prestigious newspaper, the publication said Thursday.

It was the latest French media move by Daniel Kretinsky, the 43-year-old billionaire owner of the Central European energy group EPH as well as the publisher of the popular Czech tabloid Blesk and the AC Sparta Prague football club.

Kretinsky bought a 49 percent stake in a holding company owned by Matthieu Pigasse, who runs the French operations of investment bank Lazard, in a deal whose terms were not made public.

That gives him an undisclosed minority holding in Le Monde, created just after the liberation of Paris in World War II at the request of wartime leader Charles de Gaulle.

While still viewed as France's paper of record and valued for scoops as well as insightful analysis of French politics, the influential afternoon paper had become a loss-maker when Pigasse and two partners took control in 2010.

It returned to profitability in 2017.

After reports of the deal emerged this week, Pigasse told AFP that his sole aim "has always been... and will continue to be the preservation of balance and independence at the Le Monde Group, to which Daniel Kretinsky will be able to contribute."

The Czech mogul has already bought French news weekly Marianne and is buying several magazines from publishing giant Lagardere, including popular titles like Elle.

He first dived into the media business in 2013, buying the Czech businesses of the German-Swiss group Ringier Axel Springer Media.

"The wave of populism and nationalism we're seeing in Europe is partly due to the economic decline of the traditional media," he said at the time in a rare interview with French daily Le Figaro.