Hints and tips:
...Management of the division was taken over by Thomas Coesfeld, the 33-year-old scion of Bertelsmann’s owners, the Mohn family, last year....
...Results at Bertelsmann’s publicly listed RTL group, which is on the front line in the battle against streaming giants, painted a mixed picture....
...Bertelsmann, which holds a 76 per cent stake in RTL Group, was planning to reinvest its share in the profits into its business activities, he said....
...After the decision to stop the merger on Friday, Bertelsmann said it remained “firmly committed” to the strategy of creating “national media champions”....
...Instead it backed BitAuto, which was co-founded by an entrepreneur who went on to establish Nio...
...Rabe, who is also chief executive of RTL’s parent company Bertelsmann, argued that the German economy was actually “in much better shape than many people think,” adding that there was a “tendency right now...
...“I really think generative AI is an inflection point” for society, the Bertelsmann chief executive told the Financial Times....
...Thomas Rabe, Bertelsmann’s chief executive, described him as “a great music entrepreneur” who had built a new type of music company....
...There have also been pros and cons of being owned by Bertelsmann, a family-run empire that also owns Penguin Random House and broadcasting group RTL....
...Some staff at Europe’s biggest media group Bertelsmann have a cruel new nickname for its chief executive Thomas Rabe: “Rabenvater” — raven father....
...Bertelsmann’s ambitions to merge France’s two biggest commercial television groups also collapsed last month....
...Rabe said given the uncertainties it was right for Bertelsmann’s RTL to hold its stake in M6, which remains profitable....
...Veterans of Bertelsmann say the compromise does inhibit Bertelsmann from tapping outside capital to truly become a global player in television, education or music....
...Bertelsmann’s RTL group owns a 48.3 per cent stake in M6, France’s second-biggest commercial broadcaster....
...The TF1-M6 deal is particularly important for Bertelsmann but it is looking increasingly in danger....
...Under way in a federal courthouse in Washington is a highly anticipated trial in which the US Department of Justice is seeking to block the tie-up of two prestigious book publishers, Bertelsmann’s Penguin...
...Matthias Dang, co-chief executive of RTL Deutschland, said: “When you talk to people, they say ‘I don’t know what subscription I have, what I saw on what platform’....
...Bertelsmann had previously dismissed concerns raised by the Murdoch group that the proposed tie-up would create an anti-competitive “behemoth” of books....
...Rabe, who also chairs the company, said Bertelsmann had the firepower to spend between €2bn and €3bn on acquisitions....
...Under the proposal, Bouygues would combine its 44 per cent stake in TF1 with Bertelsmann-owned RTL Group’s 48 per cent stake in M6....
...Rabe spoke to the FT on the day Bertelsmann released its results for 2020, a record year for the family-owned group....
...[Since 2013], BMG has developed into one of the most successful music companies of the streaming age, and one of Bertelsmann’s three global content businesses....
...Bertelsmann expects to secure regulatory approval for the deal by the end of 2021, and plans to pay from its existing cash reserves....
...If they were able to shut out competitors, or co-ordinate bids in mid-level auctions, this might eventually lead to less choice and less competition....
...This has priced out private equity groups, leaving the contest dominated by trade buyers such as News Corp and Bertelsmann....
International Edition