The Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) will not decide this year whether the takeover of RTL Nederland by DPG Media should be allowed to proceed.
The authority still has questions over the plurality of the media market, according to the trade journal Adformatie.
The ACM has not made any direct statements about the investigation or its timing.
DPG Media has offered to pay €1.1 billion for the business that includes five free-to-air TV channels (RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL 7, RTL 8 and RTL Z), three digital pay-TV channels (RTL Lounge, RTL Crime, RTL Telekids) and an independent news organisation. Also included is Videoland, the country’s top streaming service, with 1.3 million paying subscribers. DPG already owns VTM in Flanders and RTL Belgium in Wallonia.
Belgian-owned DPG Media is the publisher of NU.nl, AD, de Volkskrant, Trouw and Het Parool , among others.
Last year, ACM blocked the merger between Talpa and RTL Nederland.
