CMA CGM has finalized the acquisition of 100% of the shares of “La Provence”

The Bernard Tapie page is definitely turned to Provence. The Marseille shipowner CMA CGM announced on Monday that it had finalized the acquisition of 100% of the titles of the press group, an operation validated at the end of September by the Commercial Court of Bobigny, detailing in passing the new governance.

After months of legal battle around the 89% of the shares of Provence held by GBT, the holding company in liquidation of the ex-businessman Bernard Tapie, the heavyweight of maritime transport and NJJ, holding company of the founder of Free Xavier Niel, had buried the hatchet at the end of August. In their agreement, the amount of which had not been disclosed, NJJ sold its 11% stake in the press group to the shipowner. A month later, the Bobigny commercial court had definitively validated CMA CGM’s offer, in the amount of 81 million euros, for GBT’s 89% stake in the flagship of the press in southern France. France, which publishes daily newspapers Provence and Corsica Morning.

“In order to implement the recovery and development project” of the two press titles, CMA CGM has decided to entrust the chairmanship of a “renewed and enlarged” board of directors to Jean-Emmanuel Sauvée, the founder of the Compagnie du Ponant, a luxury cruise line based in Marseille.

Gabriel d’Harcourt, from North to South

The general management of La Provence falls to Gabriel d’Harcourt, described as a “recognized professional of the regional daily press”, until then deputy general manager of The voice of the North after leading the Mail Picard from 2011 to 2015. “He will take office as of December 12, 2022”. The duties of the former CEO of ProvenceJean-Christophe Serfati, are therefore split in two in this new governance.

Among the group’s nine new directors are Julie Davico-Pahin, president of French Tech Aix-Marseille and co-founder of the start-up Ombrea, which produces solar shades for orchards and vineyards, Muriel Bernard-Reymond, director of a incubator in the northern districts of Marseille, or two members of the Saadé family, owner of CMA CGM. “The governance of Corse Presse will also evolve in order to give Corsica Morning the best framework for its development,” says CMA CGM.

CMA CGM fails to take over M6

By offering Provence and Corsica Morning, the shipowner made a remarkable first foray into the world of the media. In a team led by French producer Stéphane Courbit (FL Entertainment), the CEO of CMA CGM, Rodolphe Saadé, had also positioned himself for the takeover of M6, before the German media giant Bertelsmann finally gave up. its majority stake in the channel’s capital.