Louise Bernard, with Alexis Patri 11:11 a.m., June 17, 2022
Following the death of Bernard Tapie, who held 89% of the shares of the newspaper "La Provence", the Commercial Court of Marseille has just invalidated the vote of the Board of Directors in favor of approval of the takeover offer made by the shipowner CMA CGM.
The sale is suspended until the end of June.
New twist in what has become a soap opera: the purchase of 89% of the shares of the newspaper "La Provence", held by businessman Bernard Tapie until his death on October 3, 2021. The Commercial Court of Marseille has just suspended the redemption of its shares.
More specifically, it suspends the approval of the takeover offer which had been voted on at the end of a Board of Directors meeting.
A vote whose unfolding had been controversial.
>> Find the media newspapers every morning at 9:10 a.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here
A decision suspended at the end of the month
Approval of the takeover offer had been given to the shipowner CMA CGM.
Its managing director, the billionaire Rodolphe Saadé, had made a spectacular offer of 81 million euros.
But this advice had taken place in an astonishing way, since the CEO of the newspaper, Jean-Christophe Serfati, had refused to take into account the two votes opposing the takeover by the shipowner, votes from representatives of Xavier Niel.
The boss of Free, who also wants to buy back these shares of the newspaper, had therefore taken legal action to oppose this vote.
The Commercial Court of Marseille considered that its two representatives had effectively been deprived of their right to vote, in an "unlawful" manner.
The sale is therefore suspended for the moment, until the hearing at the end of the month which must decide on the merits of the case and decide whether or not to validate this vote of the board of directors.