Merger of RTL Nederland and Talpa Network Failed

The Dutch competition authority ACM has informed RTL Group and Talpa Network that the authority will not approve the proposed merger of RTL Nederland and Talpa Network, initially announced on 22 June 2021.

Since the initial announcement of the planned transaction, RTL Group and Talpa Network have fully cooperated with ACM during its in-depth review. Most recently, both parties made proposals to address and mitigate the concerns raised by ACM regarding the position of the combined group in the Dutch TV advertising market. The proposed remedy was to completely outsource the advertising sales of Talpa Network’s TV channels to Mediahuis Nederland. However, ACM has now indicated to RTL Group and Talpa Network that the market test did not sufficiently mitigate its concerns. This stops the current merger process. ACM will likely need a few weeks to finalise the formal decision.

RTL Group and Talpa Network regret that ACM did not take into account the speed and extent of the changes in the Dutch media landscape and the impact of these changes on local media companies. They continue to firmly believe that a merger of RTL Nederland and Talpa Network would have been the right strategic response to the challenges resulting from the increased competition with the international platforms.

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