Issad Rebrab
Following a complaint filed in April by the Algerian Ministry of Communication, the Birmandreis Administrative Tribunal ruled on June 15th that the purchase of the media group El Khabar by Ness Prod must be suspended. Ness Prod is a subsidiary of the Cevital group owned by businessman Issad Rebrab.
The deal, finalised on March 14th, gave Mr. Rebrab 80% of the El Khabar Group’s shares for €40 million. The deal was also supposed to make him owner of El Khabar (a newspaper) and KBC television.
But Issad Rebrab already owns another large daily newspaper, Liberté. This allowed the Algerian tribunal to justify suspending the deal, citing Section 25 of the Code de l’Information: “Any legal entity incorporated under Algerian law can only own, control or direct one Algeria-based general information periodical at a time.”
The El Khabar group, which also includes a print works and distribution company, is currently facing financial difficulties because of falling advertising income. Despite being
one of the most read papers in the country, El Khabar’s circulation is falling, while the KBC channel, created two years ago, has a deficit increasing by an estimated €200,000 a month.
Sources: Geopolis, Afrik.com, Le Monde Afrique
