The takeover of broadcaster RTL Nederland by Belgian media group DPG is all but complete, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday.

The Dutch competition authority ACM, which has been reviewing the deal for 16 months, has concluded that it can approve the takeover and decided that any competition concerns can be resolved through separate agreements, the paper said.

For example, the FD said, agreements have been made to retain the editorial independence of RTL Nieuws and news website Nu.nl for the next 10 years, although the journalists union NVJ has doubts.

The ACM said last year it was concerned that the €1.1 billion takeover could give DPG too dominant a position. In 2023, it blocked a merger between RTL Nederland and Talpa, arguing that the combined company would have too much influence over the commercial media sector.

DPG Media owns the Volkskrant, Trouw, AD and Parool newspapers as well as the Nu.nl news service. It also operates radio stations Qmusic and Joe.

RTL Nederland’s brands include RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL 7, RTL 8 and RTL Z, as well as the streaming platform Videoland.