The ACM will no longer decide this year on the acquisition of RTL by DPG.
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) will no longer decide before the end of the year whether DPG Media can take over RTL Netherlands. Insiders reported this to the trade medium Adformatie.
Concerns about the takeover
The takeover of RTL raises concerns among both the competition authority (ACM) and journalists. The takeover, with a value of 1.1 billion euros, follows an earlier takeover attempt by Talpa, which was blocked by the ACM.
Although the media market is dynamic and the merger is different from that with Talpa, the ACM fears that the takeover could lead to a decrease in media pluralism, deteriorated employment conditions for journalists and a (too) dominant position in the advertising market.
The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) expresses concerns about the possible consequences for the position of journalists, especially freelancers, if one large company controls both the news media and commercial television. Similar concerns have arisen in Belgium, because DPG Media has already caused a decline in journalistic quality there through cost savings.
On the other hand, there are also positive voices, especially from advertisers who see advantages in the cross-media opportunities offered by the merger. They view the combination of DPG and RTL as complementary, unlike the merger with Talpa.
However, there is uncertainty about whether the ACM will approve the merger. It may depend on the interpretation of market power and whether competition is disadvantaged. An argument that DPG may be able to make is that RTL would disappear from the market without the takeover, but this is difficult to prove. If the merger is stopped, the parties can appeal to the court.
The regulator currently still has many questions about the journalistic labor market and pluralism surrounding the takeover. These points would now weigh most heavily in the judgment.
In any case, the takeover could not proceed without the parties involved coming up with remedies. In other words, come up with proposals to make the takeover possible, for example by selling parts.
It is the first time that the ACM tests a deal for media pluralism. The merger of two major media companies could impact the diversity of news offerings and editorial independence.
