RTL CEO sees good interest in Groupe M6 stake (updated)

RTL SA

30/03/2021 09:24

(Adds further comments on French, Dutch, Belgian units)
    BERLIN, March 30 (Reuters) - Talks on broadcaster RTL's
 RRTL.DE  stake in France's Groupe M6  MMTP.PA  are making
progress and there is good interest from several interested
parties, CEO Thomas Rabe told reporters on Tuesday.
    "This process is continuing," Rabe, who also heads RTL's
parent company Bertelsmann  BTGGg.F , told a news conference on
the German publisher's annual results. "It won't take for ever."
    RTL is exploring the sale of its 48% stake in Groupe M6 as
part of its push for in-country consolidation in the European
broadcasting industry, with sources saying Bouygues  BOUY.PA 
and Vivendi  VIV.PA  are among the bidders.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2LA181
    He said a deal with broadcaster TF1, which is owned by
Bouyges, offered the best fit but faced regulatory hurdles. He
declined to identify the other suitors, saying the talks were
confidential.
    In addition to France, Rabe said he was actively exploring
potential for consolidation in Belgium and the Netherlands,
where RTL has both television and radio assets. If sales do not
happen, small additional acquisitions were possible, he said.
    "We have several options - the best is major consolidation
to create national champions that can invest in competing with
the U.S. platforms," he said, referring to streaming giants
Netflix  NFLX.O  and Amazon Prime  AMZN.O .
    Privately held Bertelsmann earlier reported that its core
profit rose to 3.1 billion euros ($3.6 billion) from 2.9 billion
euros last year, despite a 4.1% decline in group revenue to 17.3
billion euros.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS8N2DR018
 ($1 = 0.8522 euros)

 (Reporting by Douglas Busvine, editing by Kirsti Knolle,
Kirsten Donovan)
 ((douglas.busvine@tr.com; +49 30 220 133 562;))