The announcement on Friday of the takeover of Altice Media (BFMTV, RMC…) which belongs to Patrick Drahi, by the shipowner CMA CGM of billionaire Rodolphe Saadé took everyone by surprise (AFP / Nicolas TUCAT)
Thunderclap in the media: the CMA CGM shipowner of billionaire Rodolphe Saadé will buy Altice Media, which includes BFMTV and RMC and belongs to Patrick Drahi, whose group is heavily in debt and entangled in a corruption scandal.
This announcement took everyone by surprise because Altice had several times denied rumors of the sale of its media branch, which had been recurring in recent months.
It takes a step forward for the ambitious Franco-Lebanese Rodolphe Saadé and CMA CGM, who are building a media empire even though they only set foot in the sector in 2022.
Enriched by the disorganization of logistics chains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the powerful shipowner based in Marseille already owns the newspaper La Tribune and the La Provence group (regional dailies La Provence and Corse Matin). It also has stakes in the audiovisual group M6 and the online video media Brut.
“The CMA CGM group today signed a promise to purchase with the Altice France group with a view to acquiring 100% of the capital of Altice Media,” the buyer indicated in a press release.
The transaction, 1.55 billion euros in cash, “should be finalized during the summer”, according to Altice.
CMA CGM will take 80% of Altice Media, with the remaining 20% going to Mr. Saadé’s holding company, Merit France.
– “Debt reduction” –
“This sale is part of Altice’s debt reduction strategy,” Franck Abihssira, of the Emerton consulting firm, explains to AFP.
Mr. Drahi’s group has started selling assets to alleviate its colossal debt, estimated at nearly 60 billion euros. It retains its other activities, the telecoms operator SFR and smaller companies in technologies and telecoms.
Mr. Abihssira considers it “reassuring” for BFMTV and RMC to have Mr. Saadé as a buyer, because his “group has collected a war chest which allows it to develop” these media.
For the CGT and SNJ (National Union of Journalists) unions at Altice Media, “many questions remain unanswered while awaiting an extraordinary CSE (social and economic committee, Editor’s note) next week in the presence of the future shareholder”.
They demand “very firm commitments”, in particular on “maintaining the workforce” and “compliance with the terms of a transfer clause”.
“We hope that editorial freedom and editorial resources will remain at least the same, or even improve,” François Pitrel, member of the Society of Journalists (SDJ) of BFMTV, told AFP.
Directed by Marc-Olivier Fogiel, the channel is the leader in continuous news in France, closely followed by CNews, a subsidiary of Vivendi, the group of billionaire Vincent Bolloré. In addition to this audience rivalry, BFMTV is going through a turbulent period.
In December, its star recruit Laurent Ruquier stopped his daily current affairs show, after only three months.
Before him, BFMTV had lost several of its stars: Bruce Toussaint (who has hosted the TF1 morning news since January), Aurélie Casse (left for France 5) and Jean-Baptiste Boursier (recruited by LCI, the TF1 news channel).
For its part, RMC, which is very focused on sport, is the third radio station in France.
– “Betrayed” –
The sale of BFMTV comes at a time when many digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequencies, including its own, will be renewed in 2025 with the media regulator, Arcom.
However, under the law, Altice would not have the right to sell the channel within five years following the renewal of its frequency authorization.
The subject will be on the menu of the commission of inquiry into the allocation of TNT frequencies to the National Assembly, its president Quentin Bataillon (Renaissance) having announced on X “to summon the representatives of CMA CGM soon”.
According to an internal message from the CEO of Altice France, Arthur Dreyfuss, the “management” of Altice Media will remain in place after the takeover.
Altice Media, which was called NextRadioTV until 2021, was gradually sold to Patrick Drahi by Alain Weill from 2015. The entity also includes the TNT channels RMC Découverte and RMC Story.
Altice has been shaken for several months by a corruption scandal which involves Armando Pereira, manager of the Portuguese subsidiary and co-founder of the group.
Indicted in Portugal, he disputes the accusations. An investigation was opened in France in September by the national financial prosecutor’s office.
At the beginning of August, in a rare speech, Mr. Drahi said he was “betrayed and deceived by a small group of individuals”.