RTL-Talpa Merger Dropped Amidst Anti-Trust Issues

European media giant RTL Group has actually dropped strategies to combine its Dutch television operations, RTL Nederland, with Talpa Networks, the television group managed by television magnate and The Voice developer John de Mol.

RTL Group on Monday stated the Dutch competitors authority ACM had actually notified them it prepared to obstruct the offer, initially revealed in 2021, which would have developed a local television giant..

It’s the 2nd time in less than a year that RTL has actually seen its growth prepares stymied by local competitors authorities. Last September, RTL left an arrangement to combine its French business network M6 with French broadcaster TF1 after French anti-trust authorities opposed the relocation.

RTL’s method, in France and the Netherlands, was to develop “regional language champs” with enough scale in their specific markets to handle Netflix and other worldwide banners. The success of streaming platforms postures a hazard for standard free-TV networks in Europe, which are not utilized to taking on such deep-pocketed tech business for regional audiences.

However the Dutch authorities saw things in a different way. In a declaration, RTL stated the ACM thought the RTL-Talpa merger would break Dutch anti-trust laws since the brand-new business would have a near monopoly in the regional television advertisement market. Talpa proposed outsourcing its advertisement sales operations to a 3rd party, Mediahuis Nederland, however, according to RTL, the proposition “did not adequately alleviate [ACM’s] issues.”

RTL and Talpa slammed the ACM choice, stating Dutch authorities “did not take into consideration the speed and level of the modifications in the Dutch media landscape and the effect of these modifications on regional media business … a merger of RTL Nederland and Talpa Network would have been the ideal tactical action to the difficulties arising from the increased competitors with the worldwide platforms.”

It will likely be a couple of weeks prior to the ACM problems its official choice, however RTL and Talpa have actually currently cancelled the offer. In a declaration, RTL CEO Thomas Rabe stated RTL Nederland “is and will stay a crucial possession for RTL Group” which the business stayed persuaded “that market combination is required to take on the worldwide tech platforms– which market combination will take place in the European television markets eventually.”.