The newspaper repurchase soap opera Provence turns to legal trench warfare. While two candidates – Xavier Niel’s NJJ group (also an individual shareholder of the World) and Rodolphe Saadé’s CMA-CGM maritime group – submitted written offers to the Bobigny court on November 30 to buy back the 89% of the capital held by businessman Bernard Tapie, who died on October 3, the opening of their envelopes has been postponed indefinitely.
The fight between the two billionaires has, in fact, made a first hook, Tuesday, December 21, before the commercial court of Marseille, at the request of Xavier Brouard, the judicial liquidator who manages the assets of the Bernard Tapie Group. The latter assigns the group La Provence in summary proceedings to suspend the approval clause negotiated between Xavier Niel and Bernard Tapie.
This clause requires that any transfer of shares be validated unanimously by the board of directors of Provence. A board where NJJ, which owns 11% of the newspaper’s capital, holds two seats through its subsidiary Avenir Développement. On November 8, Me Brouard had tried to push the board of directors to give up his right of accreditation. A request rejected by four votes out of five.
” Conflict of interest “
In court, each party ensures that its approach is aimed at the sustainability of a qualified company “Institution” as well as its 650 jobs. But, in the absence of a representative of the CMA-CGM, not concerned by the procedure, it is indeed the possibility of placing the owner on the same starting line as the Niel group that is under discussion. “The unanimity clause gives a minority shareholder the ability to replace the liquidator judge”, regrets the representative of Me Brouard, who sees it as a ” conflict of interest “.
At the helm, he found allies in the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) of Provence, by his lawyer, Gilbert Allemand. This calls for “Let the competition play out normally”, while stressing that “The staff do not intend to favor any buyer”. Faced with these arguments, the defenders of Avenir Développement argue about the legality of the approval clause in a procedure “Sale by agreement”. “The biggest conflict of interest is the liquidator”, denounce Me Didier Malka, speaker for Camp Niel.
“His concern is to get the best price. In Provence, what interests him is the project. Who is most able to ensure the independence of the newspaper? “, he insists. The decision was taken under advisement as of January 11. This delay annoys employee representatives, who hoped for it from January 4. “Another week lost”, slips, worried, Jérôme Lorant, secretary of the CSE, aware that the legal war between Xavier Niel and Rodolphe Saadé could only just begin.