The European Commission has approved the planned acquisition of Sky by RTL Germany without imposing any conditions. The Commission announced on Wednesday that after reviewing the deal, it concluded that the merger posed no competition law concerns within the European Economic Area (EEA).
The Commission determined that the transaction, as proposed, would not significantly harm competition because the combination is not expected to strengthen the purchasing power of RTL and Sky Dach, particularly in the markets for acquiring audiovisual content. Since RTL and Sky currently maintain different focuses regarding entertainment and sports content, they are not considered direct competitors.
Furthermore, the Commission stated that the acquisition would not impact competition in the market for providing and acquiring television channels and audiovisual services at the service level. This is because the resulting entity from the merger would command only a relatively small market share, the companies are not close competitors, and sufficient alternative providers would remain available for the individual audiovisual retail sector.
The Commission also found that there would be no significant reduction in competition in the market for ad space, a market already experiencing significant competitive pressure due to the shift of audiences, particularly towards global streaming platforms. The Commission concluded that even in the market for providing advertising in linear television, the merger would only result in a slight improvement in the market position of the companies. Adequate evidence exists showing that customers could switch easily and actually would do so.
RTL and Sky anticipate that this merger will enable them to compete more effectively with global streaming platforms and react to the rapid changes occurring in the field of audiovisual content provision.