Le Monde, France’s establishment newspaper, is in turmoil after the resignation of its chairman and deputy chairman amid a power struggle between journalists and shareholders for control of the group.

The crisis comes as staff, who have a majority stake in the daily, face the prospect of a takeover by Prisa, the owner of El PaÍs, the Spanish newspaper, and Lagardère, the French aero-space-to-media conglomerate.

The conflict highlights the difficulties of a French press nourished by high-minded ideals but short of cash amid falling sales and the growth of the internet.

Prisa, which has a 15 per cent stake in Le Monde, and Lagardère, which has 17 per cent, are ready to inject €75 million (£56 million) into the debt-ridden company under a move likely to strip journalists of their dominant position. The plan has sparked a fresh round of the infighting that has blighted France’s most famous newspaper for almost a year.

Le Monde, set up in 1944 to be the “conscience of France”, was thrown into chaos last month when Pierre Jeantet, chairman of the executive board, Bruno Patino, his deputy, and Eric Fottorino, the editor, stood down. Mr Fottorino later changed his mind and announced his candidacy to become chairman – a post for which he needs the backing of the Society of Writers, an association of the daily’s journalists. Editorial staff are to meet on January 25 to vote on Mr Fottorino’s application amid threats that if they refuse to endorse the appointment, the courts could appoint an administrator to oversee Le Monde.

The resignations came after journalists had vetoed the 2008 budget of Le Monde Interactif, a subsidiary owned jointly with Lagardère and which runs the newspaper’s website. Mr Jeantet said that he had refused “co-management” of the daily, which has sales of about 310,000, with the Society of Writers.

The row came against the backdrop of a deepening financial crisis that prompted Mr Jeantet to call for new investment after the company lost an estimated €5 million last year. Although Le Monde sold its regional newspaper division to the Sud Ouest group for €90 million on New Year’s Eve, it has debts of almost €100 million after a series of acquisitions under Jean-Marie Colombani, the previous editor.

Last month, staff protested outside the group’s headquarters in Paris against a plan to reduce costs by €10 million this year. They feared a round of job cuts. The proposals are being promoted by Mr Fottorino, who says that he prefers cost-cutting measures to recapitalisation.

However, Prisa and Lagardère said last week that they had met the Society of Writers to discuss an increase in their stakes through the acquisition of €75 million of equity redeemable bonds. A spokesman for Lagardère said that they had had “an informal exchange of views on the current situation of Le Mondeand its evolution in the short and medium term”.

Sources said that the Spanish and French groups wanted to persuade journalists to relinquish their majority stake in return for guarantees of editorial independence.

Investors are said to be fed up with being asked to pump funds into a newspaper over which they have little power. Last summer, the Society of Writers sparked a wave of unrest when it deposed Mr Colombani, who had been editor for 13 years, and Alain Minc, chairman of the supervisory board.

Last week Libération, the left-wing daily, said that it expected to break even this year after losing €13 million in 2006 and €3 million last year.

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