The proposed merger of the Groupe TF1 and Groupe M6 television groups in France has been cancelled. The two groups had plans to merge, but these were not authorized by the French competition authority (l’Autorité de la Concurrence).
An ugly streak in the bill for the French could also have serious consequences for the (similar) plans of Dutch media giants RTL and Talpa. As it is known, RTL plans to acquire Talpa, but it seems that the opportunity to move forward now without liquidating an important channel has become small as a result.
The intended deal between TF1 and M6 was very similar to the plans of the Dutch channels. RTL and Talpa announced in June 2021 that they would like to work together. With a strong media group, it had to compete with the big tech companies. RTL Nederland will have 70 percent of the shares, and Talpa 30 percent. After the acquisition, John de Mol wants to focus more on creating new software and formats.
The Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority (ACM) has not made a decision on RTL’s acquisition of Talpa. In January of this year, ACM announced that an in-depth investigation of this acquisition was needed. The French competition authority believes that the new media group that will be created in France through the merger of TF1 and M6 will give a very significant dominant position. Therefore, it sets conditions for moving forward with the merger so that at least the TV channel TF1 or channel M6 is withdrawn. There, the participating media companies Bouygues and RTL Groupe saw that the merger was called off.
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