Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe wants to revive the failed merger of French nets TF1 and M6.
Speaking to the FT, Thomas Rabe said that softening European regulation meant he will exploring how to revive the merger, which would have brought his RTL-owned M6 together with Bouygues-owned commercial broadcaster group TF1.
The previous attempt to bring the companies together in 2022 was abandoned after being thwarted by European Union regulators, who considered the merged group would be too dominant in the TV advertising market and said one of the main channels involved would need to be sold to rectify the issue.
However, with Europe appearing to be more agreeable to its media groups strengthening in the face of the Trump administration in the U.S. and increasingly powerful global streaming services, Rabe wants to put a “highly” synergistic deal back on the agenda. The companies’ combined revenue was €3.7B ($4.1B) in 2024 and they had a combined market cap of €3.6B.
“It would create a true French TV and streaming champion, able to compete with the U.S. platforms,” Rabe told the FT.
A spokesman for Groupe TF1 said: “We can see putting such a project back on the table when the legal and regulatory conditions permit it.”
This follows a report from former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last year on EU competitiveness, which suggested regulators should relax merger rules. As the FT reported, the new EU competition commissioner, Teresa Ribera, has since begun work to assess whether regulation is “fit for the new realities” of global competition.
Rabe welcomed the change in approach and said: “We’ve been the victims of these rules more than once. We have tried to create European champions in media and we were blocked by the regulators — I believe for no good reason. Now the European Commission talks about the necessity to reform and promote European champions. Fantastic. Let’s do it.”
Bertelsmann owns the likes of M6, publishing Penguin Random House, European broadcast group RTL and its subsidiary, Got Talent maker Fremantle. TF1, owned by telecoms giant Bouygues, runs TV channels and owns Studio TF1, which recently changed its name from Newen Group.
