It is a formal thank you to which Xavier Niel was entitled on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Marseille daily La Provence.
During a meeting with employee representatives on Wednesday March 2, the boss of Free, which owns 11% of the group (La Provence, Corse-Presse), was expelled from the premises by the CEO, Jean-Christophe Serfati, in less than ten minutes.
The last exchanges took place on the porch of the newspaper's premises.
"You put me out of this establishment"
, was offended Xavier Niel.
Arriving at the Provence premises on Wednesday, Xavier Niel highlighted his desire to discuss “
peacefully
” with the employees.
“I did not come to present my offer, I come to meet the employees of La Provence.
They asked me to explain what I intend to do over time
,” he said.
After a heated exchange with several employees, Jean-Christophe Serfati then told him to leave the premises.
“
He doesn't have to be there.
I had informed him by mail that I did not agree with his coming.
He still wanted to come and make a passage in force.
I let him in, I went to the meeting.
He said: 'you want me to leave', he was the one who proposed it.
At that time, I said yes
, ”explained Jean-Christophe Serfati at the microphone of BFM Marseille.
Read alsoTF1-M6: pass of arms between Niel and Bouygues
Forced passage
Since the disappearance of Bernard Tapie five months ago, Xavier Niel has been trying to become the majority shareholder of La Provence
.
In mid-February, the Commercial Court of Bobigny, in charge of the judicial liquidation of the companies of Bernard Tapie, had revealed the amount of the offer of the holding company of Xavier Niel, NJJ, to take over the 89% of shares held by the late businessman in La Provence.
Xavier Niel chose to bet 20 million euros, or half of the valuation of La Provence.
In this case, the businessman, who finds himself facing Rodolphe Saadé, owner of CMA-CGM, has chosen not to play the game of one-upmanship because he knows he can count on his right of pre-emption.
The latter allows him to ultimately win La Provence if he aligns himself with the offer of the maritime group.
Determined to afford his first assets in the press, Rodolphe Saadé bet 81 million euros.
Auditioned in the Senate in mid-February, Xavier Niel had openly criticized the offer of the CMA-CGM.
"
We have an industrial project which aims to make Provence profitable, not a dancer, not something in which I put money, like that
", he had launched in front of the parliamentarians.
Invited to come to the premises of La Provence on Wednesday by some of the employees, Xavier Niel intended to detail his view as a minority shareholder to the staff delegates.
Jean-Christophe Serfati, who had been notified the day before his visit, had opposed it by email, arguing that it amounted to "
violating a court decision
".
In his email, he recalled that the Marseilles court had estimated on February 24 that only the best-priced offer should be presented to the employees.
Division of employees of La Provence
In recent weeks, the debates around the future buyer of the newspaper are sources of division within the staff of La Provence.
Some employees support Xavier Niel's project, while others support CMA-CGM's offer.
“Some of the employees say they are shocked by the weakness of Xavier Niel's offer and wish to no longer have to deal with him
,” explains a trade unionist.
While several employees want his offer to also be studied by the CSE.
"
We want to work with both parties to achieve the best-selling situation on the social side and guarantee the 850 jobs
", comments a staff representative.
Since February 15, employees have a one-month consultation period, renewable once, to issue an advisory opinion.
A CSE is to be held on Monday March 7 in the presence of CMA-CGM representatives.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/Z45E6KV7VJGUXAKJWH7VA4NJSE.jpg)
