RTL to sell RTL Nederland to DPG Media in €1.1bn deal

RTL Group has reached a €1.1 billion agreement on the sale of its Dutch operation RTL Nederland to DPG Media, the media company active in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark that acquired RTL’s Belgian unit last year.

Thomas Rabe (Source: RTL)

The decision to sell the Dutch operation followed RTL’s failure to secure regulatory approval for its planned merger with Talpa Network at the start of 2023. The Dutch competition watchdog, the ACM, nixed the plan following a market test process, in a second blow to RTL Group after the collapse of the planned merger of its French subsidiary M6 with commercial market leader TF1.

Subject to regulatory approvals and a consultation process with works councils, the all-cash sale of the Dutch unit to DPG Media is expected to close around mid-2024.

Based on a trademark license agreement, DPG Media will continue to use the RTL brand in the Netherlands at least until December 2034. In addition to broadcasting operations, RTL Nederland runs streaming service Videoland.

The sale price on a debt- and cash-free basis and with a normalised net working capital, to be paid at closing, is €1.1 billion. RTL said its capital gain from the transaction will be largely tax exempt and will amount to approximately €0.8 billion.

As part of the deal, RTL Group and DPG Media will enter into a strategic partnership, spanning from technology to advertising sales and content:

Service agreements for RTL Nederland in the areas of streaming technology (via RTL-owned technologuy outfit Bedrock), broadcasting operations (via RTL Group’s technical services provider BCE) and international advertising sales (via RTL AdAlliance) will be renewed for at least three years.

RTL Nederland will also continue to use the solutions provided by RTL Group’s ad-tech business, Smartclip.

For three years after closing, meanwhile, RTL Group’s broadcasters in Germany, France and Hungary will receive first-look rights for all new programmes developed by RTL Nederland.

Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RTL Group, said: ”RTL Nederland is a fantastic company. Under the leadership of CEO Sven Sauvé, the company has built a strong culture and achieved extraordinary successes – demonstrated by market-leading audience shares in linear TV, strong growth in streaming and high profitability. For several years, we have consistently said that market consolidation in the European TV industry is necessary to compete with the global tech giants. After our in-country consolidation strategy was blocked by the competition authorities in January 2023, the sale to DPG Media is the best strategic option for RTL Nederland and all its stakeholders. We are looking forward to the strategic partnership with DPG Media, working closely together on European solutions in advertising and streaming technology, international advertising sales and joint content development.”

Elmar Heggen, Deputy CEO and chief operating officer of RTL Group, said: ”We would like to thank the management and the team at RTL Nederland for their outstanding entrepreneurial and creative performance over many years. We know DPG Media well. With a similar entrepreneurial culture, DPG Media will be a very good new home for RTL Nederland, and we are looking forward to expanding our cooperation into a strategic partnership.”

Christian Van Thillo, executive chairman of DPG Media Group, said: ”We are very pleased that we have reached an agreement with RTL Group to acquire RTL Nederland, the undisputed market leader in commercial TV broadcasting, and the owner of the highly successful streaming platform Videoland. Together with our leading TV brands VTM and RTL Belgium, we will be able to build a group that has the necessary scale to invest in the digital transformation of television. I am looking forward to working with the outstanding leadership team of RTL Nederland, and I am also very pleased that we will build a strategic partnership with RTL Group.”