The French group, co-leader of the global wine and spirits, has lost his latest appeal yesterday in the battle between the past twenty years at rival Bacardi. Pernod Ricard can not use the Havana Club trademark in the United States, world's largest market rum (40% of sales). Held by the Cuban state, the famous rum is sold in 120 countries around the world by Pernod Ricard.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused yesterday to consider the decision to an appeals court in Washington in 2011 that had impeded renew the Havana Club trademark in the United States. And, under a 1998 law, also called "Bacardi Bill". The French had seized earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of finally succeed. "We are victims of something unjust, said yesterday at Figaro Pringuet, CEO of the group. This is equivalent to changing the rules in the middle of the match. "An allusion to the retroactivity of the law, in theory contrary to the U guaranteed pay day loans.S. Constitution.

A bitter defeat for Pernod Ricard. He sees close the doors of the United States while global sales of Havana Club have increased tenfold over the last eighteen years. But the French did not admit defeat. He is preparing for the next battle. Impose the Havana Club trademark in the United States when lifting the embargo will be imposed. Bacardi sells rum discreetly in Florida also called Havana Club, manufactured in Puerto Rico, is in ambush. Pernod Ricard does not intend to let its competitor the right to enjoy the international reputation of the brand, built over several decades. He therefore announced yesterday that he would file the trademark Havanista replica of Havana Club. Insurance for the French to cut the grass under the feet of Bacardi in due course.

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Benetton where history repeated scandals. There are a few more months, in November 2011, the Italian firm made history again by launching it's ad campaign "UnHate", featuring heads of state kissing easy to get unsecured personal loans.

Alessandro Benetton, son and heir to his wife in 2006 in Venice.

Taxpayers can breathe: the local tax rates should not increase this year. Tax notices will arrive in mailboxes this fall only. But local officials, who had until April 15 to vote on their budgets, have made their decisions. "Overall, the mayors chose not to raise rates in 2012 of the housing tax and property taxes on both, on the frame and the non-built" summarizes Laurent Philippe, President of the variety right to the Finance Committee Association of Mayors of France (AMF). Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Lille, Grenoble, Nantes, Nice, Rennes or Bordeaux opted for stability in 2012. As medium-sized cities like Perpignan, Orléans or direction. Communes of Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, and Chatillon-sur-Seine, in Burgundy, has even dropped their local taxes! Departments follow the same path. "The majority of councils in 2012 froze the property tax rate on the frame. And most of those who did have increased moderately, between 1% and 2%, "says one to the Assembly of Departments of France (ADF). Among the few above this low water we find the Maine-et-Loire (rate increase of 5.1%) or the Haute-Garonne (2.8%)

But this apparent wisdom must not forget two things. On the one hand, the housing tax and property taxes are the product of the rental value of housing by a tax rate, which is voted by local councilors. The leasehold basis, they are indexed annually at the national level. For 2012, the parliamentarians decided a 1.8% increase (from 2% in 2011, 1 payday loans.2% in 2010 and 2.5% in 2009). Result, local taxes paid by households will increase by 1.8% where the tax rates of the department and the municipal block are stable.

Later in the rigor

However, in municipalities having decided to increase the rate of 1% tax bill will rise by 2.8%. On the other hand, the lull follows the fiscal shock in previous years. Newly elected in 2008, mayors and councilors have "benefited" from the beginning of their mandate to fill the coffers. Paris and has increased its local tax rates of 9% in 2009 and 8% in 2010. In Nice, the increase was as high as 14.8% in 2009. The Perpignan have been put to them in 2010 (+8%) and 2011 (+4%). The approach of the 2014 elections produced the opposite effect. "Elected officials will do everything to not raise taxes until the election" said Philippe Laurent.

The climate has changed in local communities. Transfers paid to them by the state were frozen in 2011 and declined slightly in 2012. Bank credit is harder to obtain. After years of massive hiring, operating expenses slowed (+2.4% in 2011). Departments will reduce their investment in 2012 for the third consecutive year. Nicolas Sarkozy wants to go further and impose discipline in the regions, counties and cities with more than 30,000 inhabitants not to replace a retiring on two of their agents. Francois Hollande and if does not want a "two", he advocates a stabilizing state transfers.

According to information from latribune.fr, Chinese investors close to power would be interested to buy four luxury hotels in Paris, currently on sale, and pass under another brand. Be included among them the Hotel Napoleon, located near the Arc de Triomphe.

Of the three other hotels in sight, one would be part of those whom the investment fund Starwood Capital is selling. He said it would be seller, in Paris, the Concorde Lafayette, the Concorde Saint-Lazare and the Hotel du Louvre. The U.S. group is not confirmed nor denied.

These potential acquisitions by Chinese would be given a new upheaval in the Parisian hotel that lives right now. Starting this summer, the Crillon close to work, closely followed by the Ritz cash advance loan no fax. The Plaza Athénée, he decided to postpone its work. Needed a facelift after arrival on the market of new facilities, new or renovated, the Royal Monceau (Qatar), the Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental, who aspire to the title of "palace".

Two other luxury hotels are coming on the market and confirm the increased presence of Asians in the small world of luxury hotels in the capital: The Peninsula Paris, the first hotel chain in Europe, Hong Kong MSM and the White Horse, LVMH.

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After winning the Vietnam Gabon, Orangina part in the conquest of his adopted country. The famous drink in the pulp will be launched Tuesday with great fanfare in Japan, Suntory's home country, flying Orangina Schweppes since 2009. His arrival had been delayed because of the tsunami. "It will be the launch of the year for Suntory, who wishes to take a leading portfolio of brands in Japan," says Jean-Jacques Fredj, director general of international brands to Orangina.

The famous bottle had to undergo a facelift. Its silhouette has become more slender. Least to stick to local standards of beauty that to be linear in the size of the 40,000 supermarkets in the country. Dressed in blue and yellow, it will be sold in plastic bottles of 420 ml. We also find in the small can (280 ml) in a vending machine on eight, where the Japanese are buying prepared foods, cigarettes or lattes.

If the recipe has been adapted to industrial requirements (ingredients, temperature …) and Japanese regulatory, his taste remained nearly identical. It should surprise the consumer, more used to citrus drinks without pulp.

"French touch"

As the Japanese tend to be wary of imported products, Orangina Schweppes recall on the packaging that the drink is made and bottled on site, from a concentrate from Europe free 3-in-1 credit report.

In this country Francophile, Suntory bets on the French touch – tricolor on the bottle to support – to attract young adults, fond of novelties. Orangina has emerged including posters from the 1950s Villemot, where we find the famous umbrellas orange zest.

Suntory, who made 17 billion euros in turnover in 2011, has no room for error. On this huge market of 35 billion euros, the group, number 2 local, knows that the first two months are critical. "This is a very demanding market where rotations dictate the future of a product, especially in convenience stores, said Jean-Jacques Fredj. Sold 15% more expensive than other sodas (1.30 euro per bottle), Orangina will make its way alongside the brands Coca-Cola.

With this launch, Suntory would also demonstrate the successful integration of Orangina Schweppes. Luis Bach, his boss, just joined the board of the Japanese group. A first for a non-Japanese. After Orangina in Japan, Suntory could also continue to introduce on the Old Continent other Japanese brands as its V energy drink, already available in Spain.

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Unions of La Poste have been heard. Rocked by three suicides in six months, the postal group, which employs 240,000 people, has taken the measure of social malaise that reigns within its walls. Its CEO, Jean-Paul Bailly announced Monday "adjustments" in the reorganization under way in the business. However, he rejected the idea of ​​a six-month pause in the restructuring of the branch post, as was mentioned the Sunday newspaper this weekend. "Adaptation of the company can not stop. It does not take a break: some projects will continue, others may see their schedules relaxed, "he said in a statement.

Jean-Paul Bailly has also stressed the importance of continuing the "cycle of listening" started last week and announced a "great dialogue to improve social cohesion" in local and national levels, until 15 September. Parallel negotiations should also lead to a "package of concrete measures by April 30." The Post decided, also, to extend by six months the deployment of employee ownership, a project which met recently to outright union opposition. Finally, Jean-Paul Bailly has appointed a "mediator of work life," a position entrusted to his chief of staff, Dominique Blanchecotte.

Calendar of crisis accelerated

The Post had already accelerated its timetable for ending the crisis last week, after the suicide, March 11, a part of the group in Britain. In a folder left behind, this forty, who had been off long illness since November and was found hanged at his place of work in Brittany, had denounced a hard three years from its hierarchy. This was the second suicide in Breton Post in ten days. February 29, Jeremy Buan, a senior of 28 years, had committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of La Poste in Rennes, in the Ille-et-Vilaine. He too had reported his "outstanding work" in a letter released by his partner. Immediately, the Post Office had opened on Tuesday for talks with the unions on "health and welfare at work", promising that "proposals" would be made "before summer" make quick cash.

The measures announced today should therefore satisfy the unions who denounced social climate "anxiety" since the suicide last September of a 52-year employee who was, also, défenestrée the fourth floor of the financial center of the 15th arrondissement in Paris. "This situation is unfortunately not unique to the post office," said Antoine Le Séguillon this week, a union representative GSC in Figaro.fr. "And it is not unique to Britain," he said hoping that the leadership would engage quickly "concrete actions".

Action plan against erosion mail

Faced with the erosion of its mail business, which it considered that the volumes would collapse by 30% over 2008-2015, the Post Office had drawn a new plan in 2009. Jean-Paul Bailly had emphasized that this branch should "reinvent themselves" by offering new services. Gradually, the schedules of post offices have been extended throughout France, robots have been installed to reduce waiting times for customers and, last September, The Post has completely redesigned its line of mail.

A strategy that has "paid off", welcomed the group during the presentation of its annual results on March 8. While lower volumes continued with a decrease of 3%, after falling 3.3% in 2010, the mail business recorded a turnover stable at EUR 11.5 billion (+ 0.3%), more than half of the total activity of La Poste. But for the unions, these good results have been costly to employees. According to the CGT, it was obtained "at a price of 10,091 job cuts" and an increase in sick leave.

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For Pierre Chappaz, running a business is like managing a football team. "The coach sets the overall strategy, recruiting players, helping them to play as a team, while respecting their strong personalities," says the entrepreneur known for having co-founded Kelkoo. This is why Wikio, the company he founded in 2006 and renamed Ebuzzing meanwhile, made nine mergers and acquisitions since its inception.

Combines the latest in Ebuzzing BeeAd, the advertising agency specializing in online video, created by the founders of the music download site Beezik. When he met them, Pierre Chappaz was "immediately said, if these players could join our team, we would be able to win the European Cup," he writes on his blog.

Ebuzzing now specializes in communication on social networks – an analysis of conversations in the diffusion of video advertising – fabric and its offer of a new advertising format. BeeAd indeed offers users to watch a video ad to access media content. This model was initially tested on the platform Beezik, which allows downloading music for free provided you have clicked on a video advertising. "This will provide a complete solution of video and social networks to advertisers," said Bertrand Quesada, CEO and cofounder of Ebuzzing.

40 million

"We were approached by many groups for a takeover, but we wanted to keep moving. We had enough cash in reserve and good technological edge, said Jean Canzoneri, CEO and cofounder of BeeAd. Building on Ebuzzing, we opted for speed. "BeeAd will indeed be launched internationally through the network group Ebuzzing. Mid-April, the offer should be marketed in Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK.

To satisfy both parties, the transaction – the amount has not been revealed – based "largely on a share exchange," says Bertrand Quesada. BeeAd leaders become "shareholders and associates" of Ebuzzing. The system should generate 40 million euros in turnover in 2012 and doubled in a year. And that, not including revenue could be generated internationally by BeeAd. This expansion will be accompanied by 30 to 50 recruits. They will add to the 200 people working at Ebuzzing and 40 employees Beezik.

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The end of the franc is big to the Treasury. The latest * franc notes were redeemable at branches of the Bank of France until February 17 at midnight. Ten days after the end of the countdown, the institution is taking stock. A total of 1.5 million tickets have been reported for a total value of 378 million francs (57.6 million), from 1 September 2011 and the deadline of February 17. According to the Bank of France, there is 55 million franc banknotes in circulation, hidden under the mattress, forgotten in old bags or kept by collectors nostalgic. A nest egg estimated at 526 million euros.

And this balance, called "base emission" will be donated to the State. Indeed, the notes and coins in circulation are considered a debt, on the liability side of the central bank. "To annulerla debt, the value of the tickets not presented for exchange is repaid to the State," said the Bank of France in a newsletter. All these francs lost, forgotten or become so jealously preserved revenue to the exchequer.

The countryside of the Banque de France will not have been very successful, despite his repeated reminders to the holders of francs in recent months and the creation of a dedicated website (www.jechangemesfrancs.com). The franc banknotes still in circulation became indeed a treasure of 602 million euros in late 2010. Yet the French had thrown at the offices of the institution's approach to the deadline. "Just under 200,000 cuts were exchanged in December 2011, but nearly 367,000 in January 2012 and 733,000 cuts on the first 17 days of February," says the Bank of France. A record was set on February 17, with 91,000 tickets reported.  

The large denomination reported mass

For latecomers or those who have not managed to get hold of these small economies too well hidden, they have "no choice but to keep their tickets as a souvenir or sell to coin collectors," warns we at the Bank of France. But beware, all tickets will not take the value. "Better to have kept the cuts of 20 francs or 50 francs Debussy Saint-Exupery," said Michel Prieur, specialist of currencies within the Compagnie Générale de Bourse (CGB.fr). Now demonetized, only small values ​​will make a "margin buxom." A lesson that apprentices numismatists have understood. "Two thirds of the reported cuts are notes of 200 francs and 500 francs," says the Bank of France, which states that "the average volume of trade amounted to 15 tickets per transaction, for an average value of 3627 francs (553 euros). "

* The range of notes that can be exchanged against euro: CHF 20 bills bearing the image of Debussy, equivalent to 3.05 euros, the "Saint-Exupery" 50 francs (7.62 euros) , the "Cezanne" of 100 francs (15.24 euros), "Gustave Eiffel" of 200 francs (30.49 euros) and the "Pierre et Marie Curie" of 500 francs (76.22 euros).

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Another sign of joy: the last quarter, growth in attendance is highest in restaurants with table service, where the addition is much salt in fast food, which represent 68% of visits and 44% total expenditure of the French.

However, the recovery is shy and sometimes chaotic. As a result, many professionals are choosy. "The first quarter seemed to promise a clear recovery this year.