Paris (AFP)

Hitherto bitter rivals, soon allies in the same media giant?

M6 announced Monday that Bouygues, parent company of TF1, wanted to buy 30% of its capital from the German Bertelsmann, an operation which will still have to overcome a number of regulatory obstacles.

"M6 and TF1 merge and the Bouygues group becomes the majority shareholder of the new entity with 30% of the shares, ahead of RTL Group", a subsidiary of the German Bertelsmann currently main shareholder, M6 told AFP, confirming information du Figaro.

The daily said that Bertelsmann would keep "16% of the capital to facilitate negotiations with the competition authority" and that "the balance will remain (it) listed on the stock exchange".

M6 did not confirm these elements Monday evening.

After 18 months, if the regulatory authorities give their consent, the current boss of M6 Nicolas de Tavernost will become CEO of the new entity, however, the group stressed.

It is not known what will become of the current CEO of TF1 Gilles Pélisson.

The merger between the two currently competing groups could allow the realization of a maximum of synergies, in particular by making it possible to keep only one advertising network.

Bertelsmann, which so far holds 48.3% of the capital of the M6 ​​group through its subsidiary RTL Group, declared itself a seller at the start of the year and TF1's offer seemed to hold the line against its competitors.

This acquisition process will nevertheless be subject to strong regulatory constraints on media concentration.

Indeed, only seven authorizations to broadcast on the hertzian waves can be granted to the same television group.

As the M6 ​​group already owns five frequencies (its eponymous channel, W9, 6ter, Gulli and Paris Première), a takeover by TF1 also owner of five channels (TF1, TMC, LCI, TFX, TF1 Cinéma Séries) would involve the sale of three channels .

According to experts, the decisive point will be the green light from the anti-trust authorities.

The marriage of the first and third PAF channels would indeed bring out a giant television player exceeding France TV with more than 30% of audience share and representing three quarters of the advertising market on the media.

Finally, from a stock market point of view, the law prevents a shareholder from owning more than 49% of a television group.

© 2021 AFP