RNS Number:9858D
RTL Group
22 May 2001




RTL Group, Canal+ Group and Groupe Jean-Claude Darmon create joint sports
rights business

Merger creates a leading venture with a broad range of international TV and
marketing sports rights / Perfectly placed for further expansion, excellent
prospects for growth

Paris/Luxembourg, 22 May 2001 - RTL Group, Canal+ Group and Groupe Jean-Claude
Darmon have signed an agreement to merge their sports rights activities. The
deal will create a leading TV and marketing sports rights company. It brings
together UFA Sports, the sports rights business of RTL Group, Sport+, the
sports rights trading subsidiary of Canal+ Group, and Groupe Jean-Claude
Darmon in which RTL Group already owns a 28 % interest. The new group combines
annual revenues of over Euro 570 million and EBITA of Euro 49 million (based
on pro forma figures for 2000). The transaction is subject to the usual
conditions, including regulatory and board approvals.

The enlarged group - which will be renamed - will manage TV and marketing
contracts with over 320 football clubs worldwide. It will also manage TV and
marketing contracts with over 40 national football federations as well as
major European football leagues. The group will also be active in other
disciplines such as handball, rugby and tennis and will offer a full range of
sport communication services (from TV rights marketing to event, advertising,
team and hospitality management) as well as TV sports production. The new
group will have about 350 employees worldwide.

The new group will be ideally positioned to benefit from the rapidly growing
sports rights business. It will combine highly complementary assets and
expertise and will have the financial capacity to handle major sport events
and rights. It will offer a rare know-how to content providers such as clubs,
leagues and federations, and, more generally, an unparalleled reach and
breadth of services to its customers. The new company will be headquartered in
Paris and headed by Jean-Claude Darmon as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO). Bernd Hoffmann from UFA Sports and Jerome Valcke from Sport+ will be
appointed Chief Operating Officers (COO).

The transaction will be realised in three steps:


  * UFA Sports and Sport+ will be contributed to the existing Groupe
    Jean-Claude Darmon S.A. In exchange for their contributions, RTL Group
    will receive 2.2 million newly issued shares and Canal+ Group will receive
    1.6 million newly issued shares. Simultaneously, Canal+ Group will
    purchase a majority of Jean-Claude Darmon's present shareholding at a
    price of Euro 155 per share, leaving him with a 5% stake in the merged
    business. He currently owns 36.8% of the group's capital.

  * In a next step, as required by French stock exchange regulations, an
    offer will be made to the remaining minority shareholders of Groupe
    Jean-Claude Darmon also at Euro 155 per share in cash.

  * Once the offer is closed, the stakes of RTL Group and Canal+ Group will
    be balanced.

The entire process is expected to be completed by the end of 2001.

It is the intention of RTL Group and Canal+ Group to keep the enlarged group
listed on the Paris stock exchange in order to offer investors the opportunity
to participate in the future development of the company. Following the
completion of the transaction, RTL Group and Canal+ Group will own equal
stakes of between 39.5% and 46.6% in the enlarged group, depending on the
result of the tender offer to the minority shareholders. Treasury stocks will
represent 1.8%. The transaction values the combined group at Euro 1.1 billion.

Pierre Lescure, Chairman of the Executive Board of Canal+ Group, said: "This
new company offers a great opportunity for Canal+ Group to be associated with
partners such as Bertelsmann, RTL Group, UFA Sports and Jean-Claude Darmon.
The geographical complementarity of the rights the three companies manage, and
the different activities they are involved with, is a natural fit. Sport has
always been at the heart of Canal+ and its subscribers everywhere in Europe.
With Sport+ headed by Jerome Valcke, Canal+ Group has created strong
relationships with major sports talents and particular skills in the
production of high-quality sports content which will greatly benefit the new
company."

Didier Bellens, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, said: "We are delighted
to have completed this deal which enables us to enjoy a strong European
position in the increasingly important sports rights sector. The transaction
allows us to build on the remarkable success of UFA Sports, which over recent
years, under the guidance of Bernd Hoffmann, has established itself as an
important international player in sports rights management. Together with us,
the shareholders of Groupe Jean-Claude Darmon can look forward to an exciting
future with the enlarged company. It owns a broad range of sports rights
across Europe, and globally. The enlarged group will be perfectly placed for
further expansion into new areas and territories and enjoys excellent
prospects for growth."

Jean-Claude Darmon, Chairman and CEO of the enlarged company, said: "I am very
proud to lead the new company in an environment which has dramatically changed
since I started and created the business in France. The new entity will gather
shareholders I have enjoyed to work with for many years. Canal+ has been Group
Jean-Claude Darmon's main commercial partner since it started its TV
operations and, over the last 3 years, RTL Group has been able to appreciate
the quality and efficiency of our management skills. I look forward to working
with two such capable managers as Bernd Hoffmann and Jerome Valcke, and their
talented teams. I strongly believe that we have the perfect team to fulfil our
ambitious new goals."



For further enquiries:
Groupe Jean-Claude Darmon: Jean-Louis Dutaret          Tel.: +331 55 07 10 59
                           or:
                           Pierre Lelong               Tel.: +331 55 07 10 00
                           or:
                           Laurence Costes (Equity)    Tel.: +331 45 22 22 30

RTL Group:        Markus Payer                      Tel.: +352 42142 5020
                  markus.payer@rtlgroup.com
                  or:
                  Finsbury
                  Julius Duncan                     Tel: +44 207 251 3801
                  Katie Lang (Investors)

Canal+ Group:           Sylvie Ruggieri          Tel.: +33 1 4425 1675
                        or:
                        Jean-Louis Erneux        Tel.: +33 1 4425 7581


Notes to editors:

Groupe Jean-Claude Darmon (GJCD) mainly operates in management of TV rights
and marketing in France, Italy and Africa. GJCD manages TV and marketing
rights of 14 French Division I professional football clubs as well as the
French Federations of Football and Rugby. The African Confederation of
Football has a long term partnership with GJCD with regards to the worldwide
commercialisation of its matches. The Group, involved in more than 800 matches
per year, is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (Euronext) since December
1996. Jean-Claude Darmon currently owns 36% of the company that he founded 20
years ago. Jean Claude Darmon is currently holding the majority of the voting
rights. RTL Group owns 28% of the share capital. Float represents 32% of total
share capital.

UFA Sports was founded in 1988 and has developed into a global player on the
international market of sports rights management. 200 employees, lead by Bernd
Hoffmann, work in the headquarter in Hamburg and in the offices in Berlin,
Dortmund, Nuremberg, Cologne and Paris and subsidiaries in Italy, Poland, UK,
Malaysia and Brazil. UFA Sports markets the TV and advertising rights of more
than 50 national football associations as well as 300 top football clubs like
e.g. Hertha BSC, Hamburger SV, Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray Istanbul,
Spartak Moscow and Vasco da Gama. UFA Sports cooperates with several partner
clubs on the basis of the concept of overall marketing, managing their entire
rights portfolio, and extended this concept in 2000 by becoming the marketing
partner of Alain Prost's racing team Prost Grand Prix. Additionally, UFA
Sports offers to potential sponsors a package of selective sponsorships in
different clubs. UFA Sports regularly publishes independent studies of the
international market of football sponsoring and is offering Europe-wide
consulting services for the designing and planning of football stadiums.

Sport+, a wholly-owned Canal+ Group subsidiary, is a world player in sports
rights management. Founded in 1998, Sport+ markets the TV broadcast rights and
handles the marketing rights of the major international federations and
European leagues for ball sports. It manages the main international
broadcasting rights for the various European soccer leagues (France, England,
Italy, Portugal) outside their respective home territory. Sport+ also markets
worldwide TV and marketing rights for the International Handball Federation,
International Basketball Federation, French National Rugby League and, most
recently, for the Cameroon national soccer federation. Sport+, headed by
Jerome Valcke, is based in Paris, with offices in the UK, the Netherlands and
China. Sport+ develops a full range of varied, high-quality content tailored
to the specific needs of its more than 150 clients worldwide.


Rtl Group (LSE:RTL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Rtl Group Charts.
Rtl Group (LSE:RTL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Rtl Group Charts.