Media/France: RTL Group conducts a "market test" to sell M6 after failed merger with TF1

After the failure of its merger with TF1, which belongs to the Bouygues group, the French free-TV and radio group M6 is once again the subject of a "market test" by its owner RTL Group, a subsidiary of Germany's Bertelsmann, according to AFP on 22/09/2022.

"Since the announcement (of the abandonment of the merger with TF1) last Friday (16/09/2022), we have been inundated with expressions of interest in buying back our stake in M6. This is why we are testing the market," said an RTL Group spokesperson to AFP.

"We are not in a hurry to sell. We think that consolidation will happen sooner or later in the French market, with different options. We are patient and can wait. We will decide on the basis of the test whether we sell or not," added the spokesperson. AFP has specified that after the renewal of M6's broadcasting license, which expires in May 2023, the channel will not be able to change shareholders for five years.

In 2021, before the agreement with TF1, the French entertainment and media group Vivendi (parent company of the pay and free-TV group Canal+), the Czech businessman…