News | RTL Group | Luxembourg, 12/13/2017

Bert Habets to lead RTL Group as sole CEO

Guillaume de Posch will step down as Co-CEO of RTL Group at his own request, effective 1 January 2018. Bert Habets will lead the Group as sole CEO. Elmar Heggen will remain CFO and will also become Deputy CEO.

On 13 December 2017, RTL Group announced that at his own request, Guillaume de Posch will step down as Co-CEO of RTL Group, effective 1 January 2018. Bert Habets will lead RTL Group as sole CEO. Elmar Heggen will remain CFO and will also become Deputy CEO of RTL Group.

Guillaume de Posch has decided to step down as Co-CEO of RTL Group, but he will continue to serve as a non-executive member of RTL Group’s Board of Directors. Bert Habets, who has been Co-CEO of RTL Group since 19 April 2017, will now lead the Group as sole CEO, with overall responsibility for the strategy and day-to-day management of the Group. Bert Habets joined the Group in 1999 and became CFO of RTL Nederland in 2001. As CEO of RTL Nederland (2008 to 2017) he transformed the company from a traditional broadcaster into an allround media and entertainment company.

Elmar Heggen will remain CFO of RTL Group and will also become the Group’s Deputy CEO, taking over the portfolio responsibility for Groupe M6 and RTL Belgium within RTL Group’s Executive Committee.

Thomas Rabe

Thomas Rabe, Chairman of the RTL Group Board of Directors, says: “On behalf of the whole Board, I would like to express a big thank you to Guillaume de Posch for his leadership at the helm of RTL Group since 2012. He has been key to transforming RTL Group into the most digital European broadcasting company, and to re-invigorating FremantleMedia’s creative drive. High-end drama productions such as The Young Pope and American Gods stand testimony to this achievement. I regret, but fully respect his decision, and I’m delighted he will continue to contribute his expertise across broadcast, content and digital as a non-executive director on our Board.”

Thomas Rabe continues: “With Bert Habets, RTL Group will be led by a digitally savvy media entrepreneur with an exceptional inhouse career development at RTL Group. He will ensure long-term continuity in the Group’s leadership, and accelerate the execution of its ‘Total Video’ strategy. This strategy includes a strong focus on fostering creativity and building more direct-to-consumer businesses in the video-on-demand domain. I look forward to continuing our close collaboration, and wish him – as well as Elmar Heggen – every success in their positions.”

Guillaume de Posch, Co-CEO of RTL Group, says: “I had a fantastic time at the helm of RTL Group. Leading this pan-European pioneer – at which I started my career in the TV industry in 1993 – was a dream come true for me. Now is the right time to hand over to Bert Habets, who will drive the Group to its next level. I would like to thank all my colleagues across the whole Group – and in particular my fellow Executive Committee members Bert Habets and Elmar Heggen and, of course, Anke Schäferkordt and Thomas Rabe. I’m very much looking forward to becoming a non-executive director of this inspiring company.”

Bert Habets says: “I would like to express a personal thank you to Guillaume for our excellent collaboration in co-leading RTL Group over the past few months — this made my transition from RTL Nederland to RTL Group so much easier and is hugely appreciated! I am glad Guil-laume will remain ‘on Board’ so we will continue to benefit from his expertise, experience… and humour. I wish him all the best in his new and, I’m sure, knowing Guillaume, very exciting projects ahead. A special thank you also to Elmar. I am very confident that together we will achieve the ambition expressed at our recent OMC off site — which is to take the Group to the next level by accelerating our Total Video strategy. Let’s once again be the company that shakes things up!”

Elmar Heggen says: “Big projects, big wins, big laughs. Thank you, Guillaume, for almost six years of very close collaboration, door to door. I will never forget our joint roadshow for the IPO in spring 2013. This was teamwork at its best! Looking ahead, Bert and I are eager to continue in the same vein. In a decentralised company particularly, the CFO is the main sparring partner for the CEO — for strategy, growth and value creation. Being close to our operations has al-ways been very important to me, to be able to fulfil this mission. This is why I am delighted to also assume the portfolio responsibilities for two of our key units, the enlarged Groupe M6, and RTL Belgium.”

Here is an overview of how RTL Group will be managed as of 1 January 2018:

As sole CEO, Bert Habets will have overall responsibility for the strategy and day-to-day man-agement of RTL Group.

From Guillaume de Posch, he will assume the portfolio responsibility for Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, while remaining in charge of RTL Nederland, FremantleMedia, RTL Hungary and RTL Croatia.

He also remains responsible for the Group’s digital businesses in the MPN and ad-tech areas, and for Group Strategy, Business Development, Corporate Communications & Marketing, Eu-ropean Affairs, Audit & Compliance.

The CEO and CFO are jointly responsible for Group HR matters.

As newly appointed Deputy CEO of RTL Group, Elmar Heggen will assume the portfolio re-sponsibility for Groupe M6 in France and RTL Belgium within RTL Group‘s Executive Commit-tee.

In his role as Chief Financial Officer and Head of the Corporate Centre at RTL Group, Elmar Heggen will remain in charge of Finance, Legal, M&A and Group IT. In addition, he will contin-ue to have the portfolio responsibility for the Group's businesses in Luxembourg and for RTL Radio Deutschland. He will also continue to represent RTL Group on the Board of publicly listed Atresmedia in Spain, in which RTL Group.