French media are reporting that operator CMA CGM is offering €81m ($92m) for a controlling 89% stake in 'La Provence', a daily published in Marseille,the French liner giant’s home city, so writes Tradewinds.

CMA CGM’s bid is said to easily exceed the only rival offer submitted by NJJ Presse Sud, a holding controlled by French media entrepreneur Xavier Niel.

On top of the outright acquisition price, CMA CGM chief executive Rodolphe Saade also pledged to invest an additional €35m in order to spruce up the newspaper.

The 89% stake in La Provence, a title with a circulation of about 80,000 copies in 2020 according to Wikipedia, is sold via court proceedings after the death last year of its former owner Bernard Tapie — a controversial French media mogul.

CMA CGM did not immediately respond to a request for comment or to clarify whether the bid comes from the company or personally from Saade, who has been open about wanting to invest in the newspaper.

When quizzed in an interview with French daily Le Monde earlier this month about the reasons for his interest, Saade was quoted as saying: “Don’t look for any complex reasons: I read the paper and I like it. La Provence is on sale, so I went for it.”

An investment in La Province would help safeguard hundreds of jobs at the newspaper. In line with booming profits during the coronavirus pandemic (see graph), big liner companies like CMA CGM have been eager to display more social responsibility amid calls for windfall taxes to be imposed on them.

In a similarly motivated move, CMA CGM invested $30m in ailing compatriot Brittany Ferries last year, to help the shortsea operator recover from its loss of passenger traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For further reading on the French containership giant and European rival, Meditterranean Shipping Company (incl. Irish operations) that also is looking into making substantial investments.