Munich-based industrial holding AURELIUS has taken over all shares in RTL SHOP GmbH, Hannover. Ingbert Vöcker, CFO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, comments: 'We are glad we found a buyer with experience in the trading segment in AURELIUS, who wants to continue to develop the business of RTL SHOP together with its employees.'

RTL SHOP was founded in 2001. The business markets and sells a huge assortment of goods ranging from electrical goods and household articles to cosmetic and fashion via specially designed teleshopping productions and the Internet. With its workforce of approx. 170 employees, the company headquartered in Hanover generated sales of EUR 83 million in 2007. Boasting a market share of 8 percent and a technical range of some 24 million households, RTL SHOP is the third-largest provider in the home-shopping segment in the German-Speaking part of Europe after QVC and HSE24.

Dr Dirk Markus, CEO of AURELIUS, believes the new subsidiary has excellent prospects: 'The acquisition means that we will from now on have gained a foothold in a market boasting 2-digit growth and a volume of more than one billion euros. RTL SHOP meets all the requirements in order to be able to significantly expand its market share in the years to come.' At present the company has in the region of 600,000 active customers and an inventory of around four million customers. The Internet offering www.RTLSHOP.de, with annual growth rates of in excess of 60 percent achieves more than ten million customer contacts each year. RTL SHOP is the perfect addition to AURELIUS’ portfolio of shareholdings. With the subsidiary Mode & Preis, AURELIUS already possess proven expertise in the mail order segment in the German-speaking part of Europe and Eastern Europe. In France the AURELIUS subsidiary Quelle La Source is the number 3 in the mail order segment.

Over the coming months and years, the aim will be to further optimize the range of goods offered by RTL SHOP. At the same time, the plan is to intensify the Internet activities of the company and to press ahead with the expansion in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The takeover of RTL SHOP by AURELIUS is still object to the approval of the anti-trust authorities. The finalization of the transaction is expected until 31 August 2008.