Thomas Rabe
German media group Bertelsmann's CEO, Thomas Rabe, hopes to revive the aborted merger between French broadcasters M6 and TF1 in the next two to three years, he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Tuesday. In 2022, M6 Group and TF1 abandoned plans to join forces saying antitrust requests made the deal irrelevant.
With Europe appearing to be more agreeable to its media groups strengthening in the face of the Trump administration in the U.S. and increasingly powerful global streaming services, Rabe wants to put a “highly” synergistic deal back on the agenda. The companies’ combined revenue was €3.7B ($4.1B) in 2024 and they had a combined market cap of €3.6B.
“It would create a true French TV and streaming champion, able to compete with the U.S. platforms,” Rabe told the FT. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Groupe TF1 said: “We can see putting such a project back on the table when the legal and regulatory conditions permit it.”
This follows a report from former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last year on EU competitiveness, which suggested regulators should relax merger rules. As the FT reported, the new EU competition commissioner, Teresa Ribera, has since begun work to assess whether regulation is “fit for the new realities” of global competition.
Rabe also said he would be open to reconsidering the TF1-M6 merger if regulators signaled a more receptive attitude. He hoped such a shift could occur within the next two to three years. Finally, M6 may attract interest from other suitors, including billionaire Rodolphe Saadé, who already owns a 10% stake. A deal with him wouldn´t face the same level of regulatory scrutiny as a tie-up with TF1.