The founder of Free is back in the game against Rodolphe Saadé, boss of CMA-CGM, until now favorite for the takeover of the 89% stake held by the Bernard Tapie Group in La Provence.
The power has just changed sides in the South-East of France. This Thursday, April 7, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal gave back to Xavier Niel, who holds through his holding company NJJ 11% of Provence (Provence, Corse-Presse), the possibility of opposing the arrival of a new shareholder in the capital of the press group. This “right of approval“(or right of veto), which he has as a minority shareholder in the statutes of La Provence, had been suspended at the beginning of January by the Commercial Court of Marseille.
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The founder of Free is therefore back in the game against Rodolphe Saadé, boss of the Marseilles shipowner CMA-CGM, hitherto favorite for the takeover of the 89% stake held by the Bernard Tapie Group (GBT) in La Provence. “The state of disordermentioned by the liquidators of the GBT, who demanded the suspension of the right of veto, ishypothetical“Concluded the Aix Court of Appeal. After this interim decision, Xavier Niel finds himself both player and referee. She is once again redistributing the cards in this case which has been agitating the Marseille city for six months.
CMA-CGM’s offer in the hands of Niel
Determined to afford his first assets in the press, Rodolphe Saadé had put 81 million euros on the table to buy out Tapie’s shares. That is four times more than the valuation of Provence and the 20 million euros promised by Xavier Niel. The latter, also a shareholder of the Nice-Matin Group, had chosen not to play the game of one-upmanship against Rodolphe Saadé, because he knew he could count on the potential restoration of his right of approval. Among the key points of his project, Xavier Niel intends to build in the Var a printing press common to the daily newspapers La Provence and Nice-Matin by 2024.
Declared favorite, that is to say the best bidder, by the liquidators of the Commercial Court of Bobigny (in charge of the takeover file), CMA-CGM’s offer had received a favorable opinion two weeks ago from the CSE (corporate social committee) of the six subsidiaries of the La Provence group, interviewed as part of an information-consultation procedure.
From now on, with the restoration of his right of approval, Xavier Niel has the obligation to study in the coming days the terms of the CMA-CGM offer, in order to decide whether to approve it or not. . In this last case, Xavier Niel will then be offered the possibility of formulating a new takeover offer. It must then be submitted to the various parties to the file, which will render an advisory opinion. If the offer is not finally accepted by the judicial liquidators Me Xavier Brouard and Me Marc Sénéchal, justice will have to seize a new expert, so that he decides once again on the valuation of La Provence. . One of the objectives of the liquidators, who seek to reimburse the State for the debt of 400 million euros left by the late Bernard Tapie, is to obtain a very good price.
Employee uncertainty
After this umpteenth twist, the 850 employees of La Provence, in the middle of this showdown, are worried about seeing this takeover file get bogged down in multiple legal proceedings. According to the timetable for the tender procedure, a final decision must be taken no later than July 4, 2022. “It is the concern that predominates today, because we believe that the timetable will not be respected, says Audrey Letellier, SNJ trade union delegate from Provence. If CMA-CGM’s offer is not approved, we would like Xavier Niel to align himself with the guarantees that we had managed to obtain from the shipowner, namely the amount of the investments, the replacement of all the clauses transfer and a commitment not to touch our social assets”
Other scenarios could also emerge. Because Xavier Niel could take advantage of the restoration of his power to enter into negotiations with Rodolphe Saadé. The idea being to know the price at which the Franco-Lebanese businessman would be ready to buy back his 11% stake. The two men could also agree on a minority participation of CMA-CGM in the capital of the group.
Provence, whose sales have been falling for years, is in a bad financial position. In 2020, the losses of La Provence amounted to 7 million euros. To repay its debts, the daily recently sold its headquarters for 35 million euros. The editorial staff must pack up before 2024.
SEE ALSO – Xavier Niel fired by the employees of La Provence