The acquisition of the Altice Media group by the French shipping group was finalized on Tuesday, July 2. From one billionaire to another, BFM and RMC are passing from the hands of Patrick Drahi to those of Rodolphe Saadé.
Rodolphe Saadé’s group is still expanding. After taking over Provence in August 2022 and the gallery in May 2023, The billionaire officially bought BFMTV and RMC from businessman Patrick Drahi (former owner of Release). Its shipping group, CMA CGM, announced on Tuesday, July 2, that it had finalized the acquisition of Altice Media, the parent company of the television channel and radio station.
Announced in mid-March to general surprise, this acquisition received the green light on Friday from the audiovisual regulator, Arcom, and the Competition Authority. “After receiving approval from the relevant regulatory authorities, and following the announcement of March 15, the CMA CGM Group and Merit France (family holding company of the CMA CGM Group) have today finalized the acquisition of 100% of the capital of Altice Media,” CMA CGM said.
At the time of the announcement of the signing in mid-March, the Marseille shipowner Rodolphe Saadé had assured that the transaction would be finalized “during the summer”, for an amount of 1.55 billion euros. The group had also specified that it would take over 80% of Altice Media, with the remaining 20% to be acquired by Rodolphe Saadé’s holding company, Merit France.
With this acquisition, the Franco-Lebanese billionaire and CMA CGM, which also participates in M6 and the video media Brut, are adding a major stone to the media empire they are building, just two years after setting foot in the sector. In mid-May, the shipowner had already recruited a great captain for its empire by bringing in the outgoing boss of M6, Nicolas de Tavernost, as vice-president of its new holding company CMA Médias.
