It’s been quite the busy morning for Luxembourg-based RTL Group.
Following the announcement it is buying Sky Deutschland for €150M ($175M), the €1.1B sale of Dutch arm RTL Nederland to DPG Media has been given the greenlight by authorities.
Dutch competition authority ACM has approved the deal, and RTL and DPG will now finalize the transaction in coming days. RTL expects it to close on July 1. 2025.06_Press Release_RTL Group_RTL NL ACM approval J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive financial advisor to RTL Group.
RTL shareholders will receive a dividend of €5 per share, and this will be distributed as part of the European giant’s regular dividend payment for the full-year 2025 in May 2026.
This brings to an end a long, drawn-out sales process of RTL’s Dutch business. RTL struck the deal with DPG Media, a European operation with bases in Benelux and Denmark, in December 2023 and expected the agreement to close in mid-2024. However, regulators wanted to take a deeper look and the issue dragged on.
RTL had, at that point, already been unsuccessful in merging RTL with John de Mol’s Talpa Media. Regulators had stopped the union on competition grounds, but it appears European authorities are thawing and see the threat of international players and tech giants as more of a threat than traditional players dominating TV ad markets.
“After a long review by the authority, the sale provides RTL Nederland and its stakeholders with clarity and the best path forward. I sincerely thank all employees at RTL Nederland for their performance, dedication and patience. This move allows DPG Media to strengthen its position in the Netherlands to better compete with the global tech giants, and we are looking forward to our strategic partnership with DPG Media.”
As part of the deal, RTL Group and DPG Media will enter in a strategic partnership, with renewed service agreements spanning from technology to international advertising sales, and first-look rights for all new programmes developed by RTL Nederland.
A separate trademark license agreement will see DPG Media continue to use the ‘RTL’ brand in the Netherlands at least until December 2034, so the change won’t feel so dramatic to audiences in the country on screen.
The news comes on the same morning that RTL struck a deal to acquire Germany’s Sky Deutschland for €150M, creating a business with 11.5 million subscribers across German-speaking Europe in the process.
Headquartered in Luxembourg, RTL owns networks, a streaming service and Got Talent producer Fremantle.
