Sale of the M6 group: 4 to 7 candidates for the takeover, including TF1, Vivendi and Xavier Niel

The Luxembourg-based broadcasting group, RTL Group (a subsidiary of the German media group Bertelsmann), has received between four to seven offers for the sale of French TV and radio group M6 on 10/03/2021, according to various French media reports in recent days.

The free-TV group TF1, the French entertainment and media group Vivendi (parent company of the free and pay-TV group Canal+), Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky (the magazines Marianne and Elle and the French daily newspaper Le Monde), French businessman Xavier Niel (Free, French daily newspapers Le Monde and Nice-Matin) supported by another French businessman, Bernard Arnault (LVMH), are the four certain candidates according to the various sources.

Potential offers from Altice France (telecommunications and media), Mediaset (Italian free-TV group) and NRJ Group (French radio and TV group) backed by a private equity fund, have also been mentioned.

According to several sources, TF1 submitted the best offer on 16/03/2021.

M6 group: turnover of €1.274bn (-12.5%) and net profit of €276.6m (+61%) in 2020