RTL cancels sale of Luxembourg headquarters

European broadcaster RTL Group has cancelled the sale of its Luxembourg headquarters in Kirchberg.

In its half-year results, RTL announced it had decided not to pursue a sale and leaseback transaction for the building complex on Boulevard Pierre Frieden, dubbed "RTL City".

The transaction was originally expected to complete during 2017 – but it has been postponed until "a later point in time".

RTL had entered an agreement in October 2016 to sell the buildings to a third party, but the deal was pulled in May this year.

The new headquarters, inaugurated in April, is valued at €83m and includes three office towers.

In its results, RTL reported a drop in profit by 11% for the second quarter to €209m compared to €235m over the same period in 2016.

However, revenues grew by 8.8% in the second quarter to €1.57bn, largely driven by growing digital businesses. Shares in RTL rose 1.53% to €63.17 at 11am on Wednesday. 

(Hannah Brenton, hannah.brenton@wort.lu, +352 49 93 728)