French shipping billionaire Rodolphe Saade is to buy France’s leading rolling news service BFM TV from Patrick Drahi’s Altice group.
Saade’s shipping company CMA CGM will acquire the French media unit of telecoms group Altice, which includes BFM TV as well as radio RMC, for €1.55bn.
CMA CGM and Merit France family office will acquire 80% and 20% respectively of the share capital.
The deal comes as Altice looks to cut debts of more than $60bn. The media and telecommunications giant faces higher borrowing costs after years of aggressive acquisitions, which is testing its business model.
BFM TV grew rapidly in France in the 2010s and is closely watched by the country’s political and business elite.
It is the latest move by the Saade family into the French media sector. CMA CGM already owns French regional newspapers La Tribune, La Provence and Corse Matin and holds a more than 10% stake in M6, France’s second-biggest private TV network.
Altice said in a statement: “Patrick Drahi is very confident in Rodolphe Saadé with whom he has a close and friendly relationship for several years, his family, CMA CGM and Merit France, to continue to invest and to develop Altice Media to allow BFM and RMC, and their teams, to pursue their essential mission.”
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed during the summer.

Winners announced for RTS Programme Awards 2025
The Royal Television Society (RTS) has revealed the winners for the RTS Programme Awards 2025. The ceremony took place at London’s JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel and was once again hosted by comedian Tom Allen.

Jellyfish Pictures files for administration
London-based animation and VFX studio Jellyfish Pictures has gone into administration.

Pact voices concern about the future health of the production sector
UK producers’ alliance Pact has voiced concern about the future health of the production sector in a new report.

Warner Bros Discovery takes stake in Middle East’s OSN Streaming
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has taken a minority stake in Dubai-based OSN Streaming, the streaming subsidiary of Middle East pay-TV firm OSN Group.

ITN promotes Jon Roberts to Chief Technology Officer
Jon Roberts has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer at ITN.