The RMBI network tears

The European network of the cinema and TV marketer Régie Média Belge International (RMBI) with a total of 17 national directing companies is in liquidation. RMB Germany was already sold at the end of 2001, and RMB Switzerland and RMB Austria could soon be sold as well. The reason: RMBI was already over three billion Belgian francs or 74.3 million euros in debt in mid-2001. Last week, Pierre-Paul Vander Sande, CEO and founder of the European RMB network, also stepped down. Apparently not entirely voluntarily. According to the newspaper La Libre Belgique, Vander Sande had pursued an expansion strategy that was too brash, according to sources close to the state-owned TV company RTBF. RTBF holds a 33 percent stake in RMBI, while the main shareholder with 67 percent is the French cinema owner UGC. More about RMB Switzerland on page 21