Note this involves one of the biggest media deals in France.
European giant Bertelsmann has put M6 up for sale following the collapse of the French broadcaster’s merger with TF1.
Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe confirmed to the Financial Times he has asked for non-binding offers for the company after saying he had been “inundated with expressions of interest” after last week’s mega merger news.
“This is why we are ‘testing the market’. We will decide on the basis of the test whether to sell or not,” he told the Financial Times. Bertelsmann’s RTL Group owns a near-50% stake in M6.
According to the paper, a consortium of prominent French entrepreneurs are mulling bids including Banijay’s Stéphane Courbit, maritime transport tycoon Rodolphe Saadé and investor Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière. Others connected with the buy were Vivendi, Mediawan and MediaForEurope.