Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan hosted The Farm on Five

The biggest TV company in Europe will become the largest stakeholder in the UK's smallest terrestrial station if the buy-out deal is agreed.

The purchase still has to be approved by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.

RTL has 31 TV stations in 10 countries, and analysts are not ruling out a increase in programming budget for Five as a result of the sale.

Conflict

RTL is to buy publishing group UBM's stake in the channel, which is valued at �247.6m.

The move has been expected for months after RTL found itself in increasing conflict with UBM over their spending plansfor Five.

The station has increased spending on programming in recent years, launching its own flagship reality TV show The Farm, and making a successful bid for Friends spin-off Joey.

Five still manages to reach only 85% of British homes, but the figure is widely expected to increase as the switchover to digital takes place. The deal means the company is valued at �700m.

RTL's businesses include French TV stations M6 and RTL9, German stations RTL and Vox, Belgian network RTL TVI and Dutch stations RTL4 and RTL5.