RTL Group Pressemappe Seite 9

RTL Group was born of the merger between CLT-UFA and Pearson TV in April 2000. CLT-UFA itself was created when the TV and radio group owned by Bertelsmann AG and the German newspaper group WAZ merged with the Belgian-Canadian Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL). In July 2001, Bertelsmann became majority shareholder of RTL Group following a stock swap with GBL in which GBL changed its 30 percent stake in RTL Group against a 25 percent stake in Bertelsmann AG. In December 2001, Bertelsmann entered into an agreement with Pearson plc to acquire its 22 percent stake in RTL Group. Bertelsmann’s interest in RTL Group is now 90.4 percent. The remaining 9.6 percent of RTL Group are publicly traded on the Brussels and Luxembourg stock exchanges. RTL Group operates in more than 40 countries. (a selection) Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Great Britain, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, Spain, Portugal, USA, Australia. RTL Group is Europe's leading commercial broadcaster with interests in 32 television channels and 31 radio stations in eleven countries and content production throughout the world.