“In these proceedings, the parties have offered remedies — solutions to the problems we see in the eventual completion of this merger,” an ACM spokesman told the newspaper on Tuesday.
The solutions will be evaluated by ACM, which will conduct, among other things, a market test. For this test, various parties, such as media agencies and the Advertisers’ Association, are asked what they think of the solutions.
The Advertisers’ Association confirms that it has been contacted by ACM to evaluate the proposal, which must be kept strictly confidential. The parties have one week to consider the solutions, a spokesman told NU.nl. It is unclear how long it will take ACM to make a decision.
It FD previously reported that ACM already had comments on the plan to merge RTL and Talpa in September. The media companies then got to work and remained in contact with the supervisory body on possible solutions to the objections to the merger.
Remedies include divestment of the companies’ assets and a promise that prices will not be raised once the merger is complete.
The merger has been waiting for a year and a half
The merger between RTL and Talpa Network was announced a year and a half ago. The plan has since been submitted to ACM for evaluation. The watchdog concluded nearly a year since the merger has far-reaching consequences. There could be negative consequences for advertisers, TV producers, TV channel distributors and ultimately for viewers.
The final judgment will largely depend on how the regulator assesses the media landscape. It now appears that ACM is mainly targeting the Dutch television market, where RTL and Talpa would acquire a dominant position in production and distribution following a merger.
Domestic competition plays a major role and the international playing field a minor one. Talpa and RTL focus on the latter in their rationale; they include competition from international tech giants and streaming services in the logic of the merger.
