Heloise Goy with Alexis Patri
Two months after the filing of two takeover offers for their company, the 560 employees of the “La Provence” group (“La Provence”, “Corse Matin”) are sounding the alarm at the lack of information from the commercial court of Marseilles, which suspended the right of approval negotiated by Xavier Niel and Bernard Tapie.
Their concern is growing. The 650 employees of the “La Provence” group (which notably includes newspapers Provence and Corsica Morning) fear for their future. Two months after the filing of two takeover offers, the employees still do not know who their future owner will be. For the moment, employees do not have access to offers or to the calendar of procedures. Wednesday at a press conference, the employee representatives therefore expressly requested information to be able to participate in this sale which, according to them, cannot be done without their support.
If the Commercial Court of Marseille takes time, it is because the legal procedure is complex. On November 30, Rodolphe Saadé, the general manager of the maritime transport giant CMA-CGM, and Xavier Niel, who already owns 11% of the daily’s shares, submitted offers to take over the Marseille daily, through the acquisition of the 89 % of Bernard Tapie’s shares placed in judicial liquidation.
An appeal hearing on March 28
But following these offers, the Commercial Court of Marseille suspended the right of approval negotiated by Xavier Niel and Bernard Tapie. This right required that any sale of capital be validated unanimously by the board of directors of Provence. Justice considered that this right gave too great an advantage to Xavier Niel.
It is this legal process that is delaying the sale, since an appeal hearing will be held on March 28 in Aix-en-Provence and could still open the door to other appeals. To date, no date has therefore been announced for the resumption of Provence which was valued at 40 million euros.