Central European Media Enterprises (CME) to acquire RTL Croatia from RTL Group for EUR 50 million

Central European Media Enterprises (CME) to acquire RTL Croatia from RTL Group for EUR 50 million

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG / COLOGNE, 14-Feb-2022 — /EuropaWire/ — RTL Group (ETR: RRTL), a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate leader across broadcast, content and digital, has announced the sale of RTL Croatia to Central European Media Enterprises (CME), a media and entertainment company active across Central and Eastern European markets. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

The total consideration to be paid at closing amounts to €50 million. In addition, RTL Group will benefit from royalties under a long-term trademark license agreement with CME. RTL Group’s shareholders will benefit from the cash proceeds in line with the stated dividend policy. RTL Group was the majority shareholder of RTL Croatia since its foundation in 2004 and has fully owned the company since July 2015.

Elmar Heggen, COO and Deputy CEO of RTL Group, says: “We would like to thank the management and all employees of RTL Croatia for their performance, passion and commitment. Over the past 18 years, RTL Croatia has grown from the first commercial channel in the country into an entertainment company with a family of eight TV channels, digital services and its own music label. RTL Croatia’s journalistic offer is and will remain essential for the media pluralism in the country.”

Elmar Heggen continues: “With its clear regional focus on Central and Eastern Europe and its commitment to editorial independence and integrity, CME is well equipped to further develop RTL Croatia. The sale is in line with our consolidation strategy and the best strategic option for RTL Croatia, its dedicated team and our shareholders.”

RTL Croatia’s three free-TV channels – RTL Televizija (family, general interest), RTL 2 (classic movies, series and sports) and RTL Kockica (children) – form the leading family of TV channels in Croatia, which is complemented by the pay-TV channels RTL Living, RTL Passion, RTL Crime and RTL Adria as well as RTL Croatia World, a dedicated channel for Croatians living abroad. The business unit also operates the streaming services Play and Play Premium, several digital services and the music label RTL Music.

For RTL Group, J.P. Morgan acted as transaction advisor and Wolf Theiss as legal counsel for the transaction.

RTL Group is a leader across broadcast, content and digital, with interests in 67 television channels, ten streaming services and 38 radio stations. RTL Group also produces and distributes content throughout the world. The television portfolio of Europe’s largest commercial broadcaster includes RTL in Germany, M6 in France, the RTL channels in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia and Hungary, and Antena 3 in Spain. RTL Group’s families of TV channels are either the number one or number two in eight European countries. RTL Group’s largest unit – RTL Deutschland – is Germany’s first cross-media champion, operating across TV, streaming, radio and digital publishing with premium brands such as Stern and Geo. The Group’s flagship radio station is RTL in France, and it also owns or has interests in other radio stations in France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Group’s content business, Fremantle, is one of the world’s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content. Fremantle has an international network of teams across production and distribution, operating in more than 25 countries, producing 12,700 hours of original programming and distributing over 30,000 hours of content worldwide. Combining the streaming services of its broadcasters (such as RTL+, 6play, Salto, Videoland), the digital video company We Are Era, and Fremantle’s more than 460 YouTube channels, RTL Group has become the leading European media company in digital video. RTL Group also owns the ad-tech businesses Smartclip and Yospace, as well as the streaming-tech company Bedrock. RTL AdConnect is RTL Group’s international advertising sales house. Bertelsmann is the majority shareholder of RTL Group, which is listed on the Luxembourg and Frankfurt stock exchanges and in the SDAX stock index.

RTL Group Media & Investor Relations

Oliver Fahlbusch
+352 2486 5200
Oliver.Fahlbusch@rtlgroup.com

Irina Mettner-Isfort
+49 221 456 56410
Irina.Mettner.Isfort@rtlgroup.com

SOURCE: RTL Group