DPG Media offering €1.1 billion to buy RTL Nederland

The Belgian media group DPG Media intends to acquire the Dutch broadcaster RTL Nederland, the two companies announced on Friday. The deal involves 1.1 billion euros, making it one of the larger media takeovers in the Netherlands.

“RTL and Videoland are successful local brands with fantastic programming that is appreciated by a broad audience. RTL Nederland, therefore, fits very well with DPG Media,” said DPG Media CEO Erik Roddenhof. “We can strengthen each other with knowledge, skills, and investments. It is a lot of money but worth every euro.”

Broadcasters in the Netherlands and Belgium face many of the same challenges, Roddenhof said. “In Belgium, live television viewing figures are also declining, and streaming is also growing very fast,” he said. “The streaming platforms are continuously developing. If you have to bear that investment alone every time, it can become very expensive. While you are actually doing the same thing twice in both countries.”

RTL Nederland CEO Sven Sauvé is also enthusiastic about the takeover. “We are becoming a more complete media group.” The names RTL and Videoland will be retained, and little will change for the time being, he said. Sauvé will stay at the head of RTL Nederland, and neither jobs nor channels will disappear. “In fact, we are going to invest more than before in Dutch content and independent journalism.”

Roddenhof called the takeover “a very long-cherished wish that is now coming true.” The company was also very interested in RTL Nederland two years ago, but the Dutch broadcaster was already in talks with Talpa at the time. DPG Media filed a complaint with the ACM that Talpa and RTL combined would become too powerful. The ACM agreed and stopped the Talpa-RTL merger.

Sauvé isn’t concerned about similar objections to this takeover. “DPG is not active in both markets, so I actually suspect that no objections will ultimately arise,” he told RTL Nieuws. The Dutch Authority for Consumer and Markets (ACM) still has to approve the acquisition, but Suavé looks forward to the procedure with confidence.