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RTL Group SA (RTL.BT) has placed a bid for two Belgium TV channels owned by competitor ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (PSM.XE), people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

ProSiebenSat.1 started an auction process for the sale of its assets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Nordic countries in recent months, but will only sell if the price is right. The assets being sold are all part of ProSiebenSat.1's unit formerly known as SBS Broadcasting.

Luxembourg-based RTL Group, Europe's largest free-to-air broadcaster which is majority owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, is only interested in ProSiebenSat.1's two Belgium channels in the Dutch-speaking part of the country, the people said. It already runs TV channels in the French-speaking part of Belgium.

RTL Group isn't bidding for ProSiebenSat.1's Dutch assets because it already has a strong position in the Dutch market and any further acquisition would most likely face cartel obstacles.

Friday, Finnish media company Sanoma Oyj (SAA1V.HE) said it had submitted an offer to buy ProSiebenSat.1's assets in both the Netherlands and Belgium, together with local partners.

According to information obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, Sanoma's local partners include Big Brother creator John de Mol and Belgian media entrepreneur Wouter Vandenhaute. Representatives for both, Vandenhaute's firm Woestijnvis and John de Mol declined to comment.

Bids for the Belgian and Dutch assets were due last Friday, April 8 while bids for ProSiebenSat.1's Nordic assets are due Friday, April 15, people said.

Meanwhile, buyout firm Hellman & Friedman which had teamed up with former SBS executive and ProSieben management board member Patrick Tillieux don't intend to bid the auction.

Permira and KKR bought ProSiebenSat.1 in 2007 and the same year merged the German broadcaster with its other European media asset SBS Broadcasting Group in a EUR3.3 billion deal. Including the original acquisition, the total transaction value was EUR6.79 billion.

-By Archibald Preuschat, Philipp Grontzki and Marietta Cauchi , Dow Jones Newswires; +31 20 5715 218; archibald.preuschat@dowjones.com

--Frances Robinson in Brussels and Robin van Daalen in Amsterdam contributed to this article.