Talpa Holding has raised its offer for the Telegraaf Media Groep by 8% to €6.35 per share, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday.

TMG, which publishes Holland’s largest daily the Telegraaf and several regional newspapers,  is the only major Dutch newspaper group not already owned by Belgian interests.

A week ago Talpa, the investment vehicle of TV tycoon John de Mol, said it would ‘consider’ a higher offer after its Belgian rival Mediahuis raised its offer for TMG to €5.90 per share from its initial €5.25 made in December.

Mediahuis made its offer along with major TMG shareholder VP Exploitatie (the Van Puijenbroek family). Together they have nearly 60% of the shares in hand. Talpa holds a 20% stake in the group. Talpa is hoping the board will reconsider and is asking for a ‘level playing field’ in the bidding process.

‘Baffling’

In a press release on Wednesday, Talpa said TMG’s supervisory board’s position was ‘baffling’. Talpa claims to have informed the TMG board of its planned higher offer on Sunday. But on Tuesday afternoon, TMG told Talpa it was negotiating only with Mediahuis and VP Exploitatie and that Talpa’s bid was therefore rejected.

Talpa is hoping the board will reconsider and is asking for a ‘level playing field’ in the bidding process. Talpa plans to merge TMG with its radio broadcasters to become a ‘Dutch multimedia success story’.

Mediahuis said Talpa’s bid was unrealistic as it can never hope to obtain a majority stake in TMG. TMG’s shares have risen by 83% since 16 December when Mediahuis and VP Exploitatie made their initial offer.