Bertelsmann Scraps Plan for Offer to RTL Minority Shareholders

Guetersloh, Germany, March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Bertelsmann AG, the German media company that controls RTL Group, scrapped a plan to buy out minority shareholders of Europe's biggest television broadcaster because it wasn't ``feasible.''
Bertelsmann, which currently owns 90.2 percent of RTL, won't make an offer for 44 euros ($39) per share to the remaining shareholders, the company said in a faxed statement.
Bertelsmann also said it bought 785,000 RTL shares since Dec. 24 for 44 euros each. The company may raise its stake in the broadcaster at a later date, it said.
The move comes after the Luxembourg-based shareholder group Investas recommended that RTL shareholders, not to accept Bertelsmann's offer of 44 euros per share because it was too low.