Rodolphe Saadé’s CMA CGM group acquires Altice Médias, owner in particular of BFMTV and RMC
It is a French specialty in Europe. The large private media are not owned by specialized media groups, such as Bertelsmann or Axel Springer in Germany, Mediaset or Mondadori in Italy. No, they are mostly in the hands of billionaires. When Patrick Drahi, the billionaire from SFR, decided to withdraw from the media, he called on the Franco-Lebanese billionaire from CMA CGM Rodolphe Saadé. Patrick Drahi, as we know, is in difficulty. He keeps the Israeli channel I24 News, but due to a colossal debt and a corruption affair, he must pay off his debt. This is why he sold his group in France for a good price – 1.55 billion euros, which includes the first continuous news channel BFMTV, radio RMC, but also regional or thematic versions.
From transportation to media
Rodolphe Saadé began investing in the press two years ago by buying Provence Then The gallery. He also took 10% of M6. So, we can clearly see the opportunities that the BFM Business channel brings to The gallery or BFM Marseille at Provence.
But, let’s not be fooled, what is also interesting is the lever of influence with politicians and economic players. Certainly, Altice Media is very profitable and allows CMA CGM to diversify. But it is also a media group that counts when, like it, we are an empire committed to decarbonization even though it emits as much CO2 as almost half of French automobile traffic.
As a European shipowner, it also benefits from a tax advantage which allows it to be taxed not on profits, but on the tonnage of its boats. Obviously, more restrictive laws on these two subjects would not be to its advantage.
Read alsoSaadé and Kretinsky, rising media figures
Freedom of press
There are, on this point, several types of shareholders. Either we are in interventionism, like Vincent Bolloré, or we are in the recognition of editorial freedom, even if we do not encourage anything, of course, which is contrary to its interests, like Xavier Niel at Le Monde or Daniel Kretinsky to Marianne.
Sometimes, everything depends on the autonomy capabilities of the editorial staff: for LVMH, this was true at the Echoesit is true Parisian and it will undoubtedly be true tomorrow Paris Match. But the new thing is that we will have to respect the new European legislation on the media which provides guarantees to preserve editorial independence and limit the risks linked to concentration.