A lasting partner.
Rodolphe Saadé will join the supervisory board of M6: the co-optation of the CEO of the shipowner CMA CGM will be proposed to the shareholders of the audiovisual group at the general meeting on April 25.
His mandate as an independent member will expire in 2024, the group chaired by Nicolas de Tavernost said on Monday.
Rodolphe Saadé, who
“looks at possible business opportunities”
in the media for several months, set foot in M6 last December by crossing the threshold of 5% of shares in the subsidiary of the German Bertelsmann.
Since then, the Marseille shipowner has risen to more than 8% by buying shares on the market.
“We believe in M6's strategy and we want to support it.
We are not intended to take control of it
, ”he said at the time.
The paths of M6 and CMA CGM had already crossed when the free channel went on sale.
After the aborted merger with TF1 last September, M6 had received three takeover offers, including one from the Banijay-CMA CGM-Fimalac trio.
in Marseille after a bitter battle with Xavier Niel, Rodolphe Saadé pushes his pawns in the media.
The billionaire would have formulated, according to
Les Échos
, a joint investment offer in the online media Brut with Xavier Niel, the founder of Free.
The operation would not yet be completed.
For M6, this arrival on the supervisory board is proof of the sustainability of its model and its development prospects.
After having renewed the five members of its management board for a period of three years, including Nicolas de Tavernost, 72, the private group published solid results on Monday.
Admittedly, turnover was down -2.4%, at 1.357 billion euros in 2012, marked by a decline in advertising revenue (-4.7%) in a context of deterioration in the economic environment. , but its current operating profit reached “its highest historical level” at 334.4 million euros (restated for public aid) against 326.7 million a year earlier.
Its operating margin climbs further to 24.6%, compared to 23.5% in 2021 and 19.5% in 2019. Proof if it were needed,
"synergies put in place between the group's branches"
.
Rodolphe Saadé may also prove to be a strong ally in the battle that Nicolas de Tavernost is waging against Xavier Niel for the hertzian frequency of channel 6. On Wednesday, the two men will face each other in front of Arcom within the framework of the call for applications for the renewal of M6's authorization to broadcast on DTT for a period of ten years, starting on 6 May.
The boss of CMA CGM will also be able to accompany M6 which is finalizing
“a strategic project, mainly focused on the continuation and acceleration of its projects in terms of streaming (AVOD)”
.
In particular on the 6Play platform, which claims 17 million users per month in 2002.