18 hours ago
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Sky Deutschland has been sold to multinational media conglomerate RTL Group for an archetypal €150m.
The businesses are merging to make a marque with astir 11.5 cardinal paying subscribers.
RTL had approached Sky Deutschland aft it won the rights to amusement the bulk of Bundesliga German shot league matches.
The Sky Deutschland entity serves Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with customers successful Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the South Tyrol state of Italy with programming that includes unrecorded sports, exclusive series, films, children's content, documentaries and shows.
RTL Group operates broadcast, streaming, contented and integer businesses with interests successful 60 tv channels, 7 streaming services and 37 vigor stations.
The radical besides has interests successful vigor stations successful France, Germany, Spain and Luxembourg.
RTL Deutschland owns 15 TV channels and much than 10 magazines.
Under the deal, Sky's premium sports rights - including Bundesliga, Premier League and Formula 1 - volition beryllium merged with RTL's amusement and quality brands.
RTL volition besides usage the Sky brand.
Sky executives expect Sky Deutschland to interruption adjacent this year.
The acquisition is the largest transaction for the RTL Group since its inception successful 2000.
"It volition bring unneurotic 2 of the astir almighty amusement and sports brands successful Europe and make a unsocial video proposition crossed escaped TV, wage TV and streaming," RTL Group's main enforcement Thomas Rabe said.
"Together, RTL and Sky volition beryllium successful an adjacent stronger presumption to put successful people, contented and exertion successful Germany and successful Europe to vie with the planetary tech and streaming players."
The woody is taxable to regulatory approval, which the companies expect volition reason adjacent year.
In summation to the upfront €150m, Sky tin trigger further outgo astatine immoderate constituent wrong 5 years of the woody closing if RTL Group's stock terms exceeds €41. RTL Group shares presently outgo €31.65.
That outgo is capped astatine €70 per stock oregon €377m.
The combined concern could present €250m worthy of savings a twelvemonth connected marketing, contented and exertion wrong 3 years, the businesses said.
Sky News is owned by Sky, which is owned by Comcast, the US multinational media and amusement business.
English (US) ·