What Free Dordogne does

Dordogne Libre (legal entity: SARL La Dordogne Libre) is a regional French daily newspaper serving the Dordogne department, headquartered on Allée d'Aquitaine in Périgueux. Originally founded in 1876 as L'Avenir de la Dordogne by printer Dominique Joucla, the title was relaunched in 1944 as La Dordogne Libre following WWII Liberation, with the SARL formally incorporated on August 14, 1945. The publication was acquired by Groupe Sud Ouest — France's second-largest regional daily newspaper group — in 1983, and has since been operated as part of that group's portfolio alongside titles such as Charente Libre and La République des Pyrénées. The company operates an 11–50 employee newsroom (15 journalists referenced) producing daily local coverage across politics, sports, culture, environment, health, and community events for the Périgueux agglomeration and surrounding communes.

The company's product surface centers on the dordognelibre.fr news website and a daily print edition distributed across the Dordogne department, supplemented by an 8-page Monday sports section and special festival guides (Mimos, MNOP, Tour de France). The core platform is built on a standard web publishing architecture with cookie-based personalization, an email newsletter system, and Interflora integration for obituary flower services. Around this core, the company has assembled a four-product digital ecosystem: Mon Actu (personalized topic-based news delivery), Carnet (an obituary and death-notice platform at carnet.dordognelibre.fr), Kiosque (a digital newspaper store at kiosque.dordognelibre.fr selling individual issues, supplements, and archives), and Accès Illimité (a premium annual subscription tier offering unlimited access to all content).

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: recurring digital and print subscriptions via the Accès Illimité model with annual billing cadence; single-copy print sales through newsstands and physical distribution; and digital advertising on the website. Print production is outsourced to Charente Libre in Angoulême under a shared printing arrangement within the Groupe Sud Ouest portfolio, providing cost-efficient scale. Distribution combines physical newsstand presence, self-serve digital subscriptions, social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), and digital kiosk single-issue purchases. The customer base is exclusively consumer-facing — individual residents and households across the Dordogne department — with no enterprise or B2B anchor accounts identified in the available data.

Name

Free Dordogne

Legal name

SARL La Dordogne Libre

Website

https://dordognelibre.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1944

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dordogne Libre is a regional French daily newspaper (founded 1876, SARL since 1945) serving the Dordogne department from Périgueux, owned by Groupe Sud Ouest since 1983, distributing local news through print, a digital news platform, and integrated subscription, kiosk, and obituary services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Blogging & Website Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAB)

Keywords

• Regional newspaper publishing
• Local news media
• Print journalism
• Digital news subscription
• Community newspaper

Headquarters

HQ city

Périgueux

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Subscription-based model offering unlimited access to content through 'Accès Illimité' subscriptions. The journal is available both in print and digitally through its kiosk system (kiosque.dordognelibre.fr).
2. Print Newspaper Sales: Daily newspaper sales through newsstands and physical distribution across the Dordogne department.
3. Digital Advertising: Online advertising through the website, including sponsored content and display advertising.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Dordogne Libre is a regional French daily newspaper that publishes local news, sports coverage (including an 8-page Monday sports section), culture, leisure, and community information for the Dordogne department, centered on the Périgueux agglomeration. The newspaper distributes a printed daily edition and operates a digital news platform (dordognelibre.fr) with subscription access, an obituary service ("Carnet"), a digital kiosk, and a personalized news feed ("Mon Actu").

Product overview

Dordogne Libre operates as a unified digital news platform offering multiple integrated services. The core product is the dordognelibre.fr news website covering local Dordogne news. This is supported by the Carnet obituary service, the Kiosque digital newspaper store, and the Accès Illimité subscription tier. Mon Actu provides personalized content delivery. The platform is part of the Sud Ouest Group, a major French regional newspaper publisher established in 1876.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dordogne Libre daily newspaper Printed daily newspaper covering local and regional news for the Dordogne department, including sections on Grand Périgueux, faits-divers, sport, villes et villages, culture, santé, politique, and environnement, with an 8-page sports section every Monday. Distributed via newsstands and retail outlets across Périgueux and the Dordogne department.
• Dordogne Libre digital news website

Quantifiable outcome

• Sustained circulation growth with +6.71% increase in 2008 (highest in France for daily newspapers)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Groupe Sud OuestcoreOthers · 1 January 1983Groupe Sud Ouest acquired Dordogne Libre in 1983. Sud Ouest is the second-largest regional daily newspaper in France, founded August 29, 1944, selling 298,150 copies daily. The group covers eight departments across three regions including Dordogne, and operates 32 agencies with over 1,000 employees including 287 journalists. The group also owns other regional titles including Charente Libre, La République des Pyrénées, and Haute Gironde. Digital presence established since 1996.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• La Montagne: French regional daily newspaper serving the Auvergne region with print, digital subscription, and local event coverage — highly comparable to Dordogne Libre's offering in Dordogne.
• Le Bien Public: Regional daily covering Côte-d'Or/Bourgogne. Comparable local French daily newspaper format, sized similarly to Dordogne Libre, with shared parent-group digital infrastructure trends.
• La Voix du Nord: French regional daily serving the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. Highly comparable structure, headcount range, and digital subscription strategy to Dordogne Libre.
• La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest: Major French regional daily covering Centre-Val de Loire. Directly comparable in business model, audience size, and digital subscription strategy to Dordogne Libre.
• Charente Libre: Sister title within Groupe Sud Ouest, also a regional daily covering the Charente department. Dordogne Libre is even physically printed at Charente Libre's Angoulême facilities, making it the closest operational and structural peer.

Broad incumbents

• Le Parisien: French regional daily with national reach serving the Île-de-France region. Comparable digital subscription model and transition from print to digital, though at larger scale and broader geography.
• La République des Pyrénées: Another regional daily within Groupe Sud Ouest, covering the Pyrénées region. Comparable regional newspaper model with shared digital subscription infrastructure and advertising sales force.
• Ouest-France: France's largest regional daily newspaper, covering the western regions. Comparable regional newspaper business model though at significantly larger scale; sets the upper benchmark for what digital transformation can achieve in French regional press.
• La Dépêche du Midi: Regional daily serving the Midi-Pyrénées/Occitanie region with a similar mix of local news, sports, and digital subscriptions. Comparable in scale and editorial scope.
• Sud Ouest: Flagship regional daily of Groupe Sud Ouest, the parent company that owns Dordogne Libre. Same business model (regional newspaper, print + digital subscription) but operates at vastly larger scale across eight departments and 21 editions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DordogneLibre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/la-dordogne-libre
• Instagraminstagram.com/dordognelibre/?hl=fr
• Xx.com/DordogneLibre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Free Dordogne