The Marseille shipowner CMA-CGM, controlled by businessman Rodolphe Saadé, rose to 10.25% of the capital of the television group M6 following an acquisition of securities on the market, according to a statement published Wednesday by the financial market regulator.
Rodolphe Saadé, already owner of La Provence (daily La Provence and Corse Matin), had been co-opted in February to the supervisory board of M6 after being invited at the end of 2022 to the capital of the group (he then held around 8% of the shares). .
CMA-CGM had expressed its interest in M6 (channels M6, W9, 6ter and the radios of the RTL group) as early as last fall, when it made a takeover offer after the failure of the merger with TF1, within of a team led by producer Stéphane Courbit.
Bertelsmann, shareholder of M6, had finally been forced to abandon its sale project due to tight deadlines.
Opportunities and market conditions
According to its declaration to the AMF, valid for the next 6 months, CMA-CGM intends to "
continue (its) acquisitions of securities (...) depending on opportunities and market conditions
".
The shipowner has the means: in 2022 it recorded a record net profit of more than 23 billion euros, surpassing the groups of the CAC 40. Rodolphe Saadé has also just recruited Laurent Guimier, former director of information for France Télévisions, to lead the media branch of CMA-CGM.
However, he cannot take control of a television group without calling into question the broadcasting authorizations of the group's antennas, which must be formally reallocated by Arcom at the beginning of May.
The billionaire Xavier Niel, boss of the Free operator who had turned telecoms upside down, tried to do the same with TV by applying at the start of the year to take over the M6 frequency, without success.