LONDON (Brand Republic) – German media giant Bertelsmann has increased its stake in European TV group RTL by 30%, bringing its total holding in the pan-European group to 67%.
Bertelsmann, now the largest free-to-air TV group in Europe, acquired the stake in RTL through a share-swapping deal with Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, a Brussels-based financial holding company.
GBL, in return, gets a 25.1% stake in Bertelsmann, which it has the option to float partially or entirely on the Frankfurt Stock exchange within three or four years.
Bertelsmann is currently a privately owned company, controlled by the Mohn family who founded the business. A partial flotation would break decades of tradition that has been widely criticised because the company could not use shares as currency during acquisitions.
RTL was created last year from the merger of Pearson Television and CLT-Ufa, a Luxembourg-based broadcaster formed out of a joint venture between Bertelsmann and GBL.
RTL owns a majority holding in UK terrestrial TV network Channel 5.
Its new shareholding structure of two owners -- Bertelsmann and Pearson -- could help it realise its ambition of buying United Business Media’s 35% stake in the station.