BFMTV and RMC sold the ship to owner Rodolphe Saade

A dramatic turn of events this Friday morning in the audiovisual sector. The CMA CGM group, owned by Franco-Lebanese billionaire Rodolphe Sade, has just announced that it has signed a purchase agreement with the intention of acquiring 100% of the capital of Altice Media (BFMTV, BFM Business, BFM Regions, RMC Story and). RMC Radio).

“This operation will allow the CMA CGM group, in the long term, to create a benchmark media sector with information, sports and entertainment content and whose editorial project will bring pluralism, independence and journalistic ethics, focused on economic key issues. , Social and Territorial Change.”, writes the French ship owner in a press release. The acquisition will be carried out jointly by CMA CGM Group and Merit France by 80% and 20%, respectively, based on an enterprise value of 1.55 billion euros.

In a letter sent to Altis France teams this morning, K Le Figaro Acquired, its CEO Arthur Dreyfus praises Rodolphe Sade’s merits: “We are delighted that a new entrepreneur, as the head of a historic family group, an anchor in our region and endowed with a long-term industrial vision, is part of the continuity of Patrick Drahi and Altice. This is great news for preserving our special DNA, made up of the courage and pragmatism that has characterized us since the beginning.He wrote.

Discussions from spring 2023

According to our information, Rodolphe Saade expressed interest in buying his media division with Altice Group CEO Patrick Drahi as early as spring 2023. Last summer, Altice Media’s management expected 2 billion euros to enter negotiations. Other French tycoons, such as Xavier Neill, owner of Frei, or Bernard Arnault, owner of the LVMH empire, also saw the file.

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Weak on the financial markets, saddled with 60 billion euros in debt and rocked by a corruption scandal, Patrick Drahi finally showed he was willing to shed his media jewels for a slightly less significant sum… and narrowed the gap in audience share with the hugely popular BFMTV, CNews owned by Vincent Bolloré. Even if gone, which is the leading continuous news channel in France.

The sale of Altice Média to CMA CGM, subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory authorizations, should be finalized during the summer of 2024. The timing should particularly coincide with the renewal of BFM TV’s TNT frequencies while Policeman Audiovisual (Arcom) started the renewal process for 15 DTT frequencies in February.

For his part, Rodolphe Sade has been slowly building a media empire over the past two years through his subsidiary CMA CGM Médias. She owns a Marseille newspaper ProvenceThe La Tribune group (financial site and newspaper La Tribune Dimanche), as well as the audiovisual group M6 (more than 10% and a seat on the supervisory board) and digital media have a stake in Brut’s capital.