French shipping group CMA CGM has recruited Nicolas de Tavernost, the former head of television broadcaster M6 MMTP.PA, as vice president of CMA Medias, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

CMA CGM and its CEO, Rodolphe Saade, have emerged as leading players in the French media landscape in the past two years. Drawing on massive profits from a post-COVID shipping boom, CMA CGM has bought several newspapers, a stake in M6 and agreed to buy France’s leading rolling news channel, BFM TV.

CONTEXT

CMA CGM said de Tavernost will head the strategy committee of CMA Medias, the holding structure for the group’s media activities. He will support the media business in its investment decisions and the running of operations, CMA CGM added.

De Tavernost stepped down as head of M6’s executive board last month after building the company into a major commercial broadcaster over four decades.

Saade, who controls CMA CGM with other family members, attempted to buy M6 in 2022 as part of a consortium before M6’s owner Bertelsmann BTGGg.F scrapped its plan to sell.

Saade has been portrayed in the French media as a rival to fellow billionaire Vincent Bollore, who owns the right-wing channel CNews. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)