A group of investors led by French media mogul Stephane Courbit has offered 20 euros ($19) per share for Bertelsmann SE’s stake in television company Groupe M6, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
The offered price values the 48% stake around 1.22 billion euros, and is a 39% premium on Friday’s closing price of 14.43 euros per share.
The report said that Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky had also made an offer for the stake.
Included in the group led by Courbit are a number of high-profile French entrepreneurs including billionaire Rodolphe Saade and investor Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere. It is understood that the offer from the group will be accepted ahead of others.
Italian broadcaster MediaForEurope, meanwhile, has reportedly joined forces with French billionaire Xavier Niel to submit a non-binding offer for a controlling stake in M6.
In March 2021, when Bertelsmann confirmed talks to sell its stake, French media reported that RTL’s stake was worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.48 billion), valuing all of M6 at about 3 billion euros.
Initial cash offers for RTL’s 48.3% stake in M6 were expected by last Friday afternoon after a planned tie-up between the company and fellow French broadcaster TF1 collapsed the previous week.