(Boursier.com) — Bouygues RTL Group, TF1 and the M6 today put an end to the proposed merger of the TF1 and M6 groups, announced on May 17, 2021.
This decision comes after the hearing of the parties by the College of the Competition Authority, on September 5 and 6, to defend the interest and the necessity of the operation.
Following the discussions with the Autorité and despite the additional remedies proposed, it appears that only structural remedies concerning at least the sale of the TF1 channel or the M6 channel would be such as to allow the authorization of the operation. The parties therefore concluded that the project no longer presented any industrial logic.
Consequently, in agreement with the other parties, Bouygues has decided to end the review process of the transaction before the French Competition Authority.
The parties deplore that the Competition Authority did not take into account the scale and speed of the changes in the French audiovisual sector. They remain convinced that the merger of the TF1 and M6 groups would have been an appropriate response to the challenges arising from the accelerated competition with international platforms.
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