CMA CGM chief Rodolphe Saadé to grow media empire with Brut. | Container news

Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and chief executive of the French CMA CGM Group, is expanding his media empire by entering into exclusive negotiations to acquire Brut.

The group’s CMA Media had entered into talks to buy Brut., a digital-native media outlet and the top European news platform on TikTok and Instagram, with a presence also in India and the United States.

Operating in over 100 countries, Brut. reaches more than 500 million viewers each month through unmatched organic audiences across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.

The French container liner CMA CGM said on Friday that CMA Media has been a minority shareholder in Brut. for the past two years.

Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, stated: “CMA Media would strengthen its presence in digital with the arrival of Brut. A young and social-native media outlet, Brut. has become a leading reference in France and internationally. This partnership would allow us to accelerate our development across the formats and uses that are reshaping the way information is produced and consumed. Already a shareholder for the past 2 years, our Group shares with Brut the same commitment to accessible, reliable, and independent journalism, aligned with the spirit of our time. It would mark a new step in building a strong, modern media group, ready for the future.”

Brut.’s audience extends far beyond France, reaching hundreds of millions of viewers each month across all continents, particularly in Europe.

As it is reported, Brut.’s founders and leadership team would remain fully involved in this new chapter.

The integration of Brut. into CMA Media would enable the offering of a wider variety of content formats, CMA CGM said, adding that it will open the door to numerous opportunities in content production, expand the diversity of audiences reached, and enhance the Group’s ability to deliver multichannel, innovative, and responsible journalism.