The Dutch consumer and markets authority ACM has vetoed the proposed takeover of media company Talpa by RTL, saying it would create a company with a ‘too dominant’ market position.

‘The merged entity of RTL and Talpa will become too powerful in the areas of television advertising and the distribution of television channels,’ the ACM said. ‘This will lead to price increases for advertisers and distributors. Eventually, consumers will pay for these price increases.’

The merger was announced in mid 2021, but the ACM warned then that it could have negative consequences for price, quality and innovation.

Under the terms of the deal, RTL Nederland would have had 70% of the shares in the new company and Talpa – and owner John de Mol – the rest. De Mol said at the time that the primary aim of the merger was to fight off foreign competition.

RTL Nederland’s brands include RTL 4, RTL5, RTL7, RTL8 and RTLz and streaming service Videoland. Talpa’s channels include SBS6, Veronica, Net5, radio 538 and Sky Radio.

If the merger had been approved, it would have meant all the Dutch language commercial broadcasters, with the exception of the ESPN sports channel, were in the hands of one company.

The ACM will publish more details about its decision in a few weeks.