Already doubts. This Thursday, the CEO of TF1, Gilles Pélisson, expressed his fears about the merger with his rival M 6, after an initial report from the Competition Authority unfavorable to the planned merger project.
The boss of the leading French audiovisual group also recalled that the two companies “would not hesitate to stop” their march towards this union, if it proved to be less relevant because of the concessions that would be asked of them.
“The dream that we shared (of a French audiovisual champion) is not necessarily shared at this stage by the analysis of the services (of instruction) of the Competition Authority”, explained the leader, on the sidelines of the publication of TF1’s half-year results. “From there, before the dream becomes a nightmare, there needs to be a moment of reason, of awakening, thinking maybe that my dream will end there,” he said. he adds.
The two groups had revealed on Tuesday that a first confidential report from the institution responsible for enforcing the balance of competition in France said it was unfavorable to their marriage.
Satisfactory results for TF1
If the “remedies” required by the services of the Competition Authority in the face of the “very significant competition problems identified”, particularly in television advertising, were to “be put in place, indeed, this would make the project lose all relevance” , that the “parties will not hesitate to stop”, underlined Gilles Pélisson.
The latter will be heard by the college of the Competition Authority on September 5 and 6, he added, the final decision expected in October coming back to this college.
In the meantime, the CEO was delighted with the “satisfactory” results of the TF1 group, which recorded a profit of 126.5 million euros in the first half, up 16.7% over one year, for a figure of business approaching 1.2 billion euros (+5.2%).
Advertising revenues rose very slightly (+ 1.6%) to 815.5 million euros, the slight drop observed in the second quarter – without the men’s Euro football tournament which had benefited the group last year -, being compensated by “the good dynamics” of the first quarter, according to TF1.