► Why is the recovery likely to be further delayed?
“Tired”a journalist from Provence admits to no longer following the multiple rebounds in the takeover of the 89% share of Bernard Tapie, who died on October 3, 2021, in the regional press group which oversees the daily newspapers Provence et Corse Matin. “There is real concern, because these newspapers are losing readers and need investment”she sums up, tired.
At first, the journalist thought that Xavier Niel, boss of Free, already a shareholder of the group (at 11%) and “media boss”, would be preferred to Rodolphe Saadé, head of the shipowner CMA-CGM, « hyperpuissant » in the economy of Marseilles, and a novice in the press. The intersyndicale wanted to compare the two offers and submit them to the vote of the editorial staff. But “a court decision stated that employee representatives would only be consulted on the best bid”recalls Éric Breton, SNJ delegate to Provence.
On May 9, 2022, the group’s board of directors validated the proposal of the CMA-CGM, socially better bidder with 81 million euros in the end (compared to 20 million for its competitor), supported by the liquidators, the unions and the CEO of the group Jean-Christophe Serfati.
Xavier Niel has, as a minority shareholder, a right of veto against any new entrant, but the judicial liquidator argued in court the existence of a ” conflict of interest “ since he himself was a candidate for redemption. This judicial soap opera experienced a new twist on Wednesday May 25, 2022 with a request from Xavier Niel to challenge the validation by the board of directors of the Marseille shipowner’s offer. While the sale of the newspaper must be examined on June 7, 2022 by the Bobigny commercial court, the employees do not know whether this procedure will delay the sale.
► What do the available offers offer?
The CFDT of Provence-Alpes invites, in a press release published Wednesday, to “leave to Provence a chance to have a buyer who knows his trade »wondering about a possible “forced passage of CMA-CGM and the liquidator, with joint interests, to have the shipowner’s offer approved by the board of directors”.
In fact, only CMA-CGM’s offer was detailed. Rodolphe Saadé, heir to the founder of the Marseilles shipowner Jacques Saadé, put on the table 81 million euros to buy the press group (a good part of which would go to the repayment to the State of the debt of Bernard Tapie in the Credit Lyonnais affair), i.e. four times its valuation. It would invest around 50 million additional in marketing and digital development, in particular by multiplying the videos and by addressing young people on TikTok or Twitch.
→ READ. In Marseille, journalists become “news criers” in working-class neighborhoods
If Rodolphe Saadé is looking for pooling in terms of logistics with CMA-CGM, Xavier Niel, majority shareholder of Nice-Matin, proposes to build a modern printing plant between Marseille and Nice. At the beginning of February, he had estimated that his investment, beyond the sale price, could amount to 50 million.
► What guarantees for editorial independence?
At the heart of the concerns of the editorial staff, the independence of the title divides and federates the unions. The CFDT, which did not give a favorable opinion on the CMA-CGM offer, would like “the choice of the buyer is made on the basis of criteria of sustainability and independence of the activity”. She is concerned that the shipowner’s offer enjoys so much public support from economic players in the Bouches-du-Rhône and wonders about “the links between the political world and this potential investor”.
→ READ. Former minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari banned from boarding shipowner CMA-CGM
“Rodolphe Saadé has undertaken to grant guarantees of independence to the editorial staff”, specifies Éric Breton, of the SNJ, indicating that a charter of independence should be drafted regardless of the buyer. All the unions promise to be vigilant on this point. “For the time being, we would like to have a course, be fixed on the buyer before the summer, and preserve employment”concludes the chosen one.