Bertelsmann’s RTL scraps plan to sell stake in French TV Group M6

Bertelsmann’s RTL Group has scrapped a plan to sell its controlling stake in French TV group M6, the Luxembourg-based media group said on Monday, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

“RTL Group has been a strategic shareholder in Groupe M6 for 35 years,” Bertelsmann and RTL Chief Executive Officer Thomas Rabe said in a statement.

“We will continue to pursue our strategy to build national media groups of sufficient size to compete with the U.S. platforms,” he said, adding RTL had received “several financially attractive offers” for its 48.3% stake in M6.

RTL and Bouygues, the parent group of France’s biggest private TV network TF1, ended a plan to merge M6 and TF1 into a national television champion last month, saying demands by the French competition authority made it unworkable.

RTL was “inundated” with expressions of interest in its 48% stake in M6 after the collapse of the TF1-M6 merger plan, Rabe said shortly after.

Rabe added at the time that going on with a sale of the M6 stake was only an option.

Among the leading contenders were Italian broadcaster MediaForEurope, which had joined forces with French billionaire Xavier Niel, sources familiar with the matter said.

One of the sources also said a consortium of high-profile French entrepreneurs including billionaire Rodolphe Saade, Stephane Courbit of TV production group Banijay, and investor Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere were also interested in buying the M6 stake. euronews