PARIS (Reuters) – The competition authority has conditionally authorized the takeover of the Altice group’s media branch by CMA CGM, it announced on Friday in a press release.
The Marseille maritime transport group CMA CGM announced in March the signing of a promise to purchase with the Altice France group with a view to acquiring the entire capital of Altice Media, parent company of BFMTV and RMC.
Altice Media also owns the titles La Provence, Corse Matin, La Tribune and La Tribune du Dimanche.
“If the investigation allowed the Authority to rule out the possibility of anti-competitive risks on the majority of markets concerned by the operation, a risk of eviction was identified at the local level”, notes the Authority of the competition, highlighting a concentration between the “BFM PACA” and Provence channels.
“In order to remedy the risks of harm to competition identified by the Authority, CMA CGM has entered into behavioral commitments for a period of five years,” she adds.
The commitments relate in particular to the absence of any coupling practice in the sale of advertising space between the “BFM PACA” channels and Provence, and the maintenance of separate advertising agencies.
In a separate press release, the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom) also announced on Friday that it had given its approval to the acquisition of Altice Media by CMA CGM “in view of the commitments made by the purchaser”.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Tangi Salaün)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
Are you following this action?
Receive all the information on ALTICE in real time: