French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie, an investor in the Nice Matin Group, is selling a 35-percent stake in Corse-Matin to a group of local investors, according to a number of press reports.
The consortium, CM Holding, said on Wednesday, December 27, “If the discussions are concluded positively, which seems to be the most likely scenario, our stake will be effective from the first quarter of 2018. The consortium already owns the Corsica Linea shipping company, which formerly operated as SNCM.
Mr Tapie, 74, who has recently recovered from surgery for stomach cancer, praised the buyers, saying, “They are very competent people, who have Corsica in their souls and hearts.”
Corse-Matin was taken over by Tapie in 2014, shortly after he bought control of La Provence. A former politician, Tapie once owned the Marseille soccer club.