The last touch of the current fight on Prosiebensat.1 The media sees the Czech investor PPF seeking to double his participation in the German radiudiffusion giant, which questions an existing takeover offer of Mediaforceurope (MFE).
PPF IM – Currently the second shareholder of Prosieben – has made a public acquisition offer to increase its participation by around 15% to 29.99%, as much as possible without having to launch a compulsory takeover offer. It is an all craft offer of € 7 per share for an amount currently undetermined, which, according to PPF, was a premium of 17% on the course of action.
According to Prosieben, who announced this morning the offer, PPF “confirmed its full support for the company’s strategy”. PPF and Prosieben qualified the offer to offer an alternative to the leading shareholder in the Lowball takeover, MFE, announced in March, and the Czech company noted that its offer was 21% of better value than that of its rival. The MFE offer’s acceptance period opened its doors on Friday.
The Board of Directors of Prosieben, led by the CEO of the Bert Habet group, repositioned the company as a digital entertainment company, focused on the European streamer Joyn. However, PPF and the leading shareholder MFE, the Berlusconi family media company, which holds 30.14% of the actions, previously questioned the rate of change and urged the elimination of non -essential assets in meetings and electronic commerce.
The two investors had already worked in Lockstep, trying to force the change last year. However, the CEO of the PPF, Jiří Šmejc, recently said that he had not seen the MFE offer in whole and would reveal his position once it was clear. It is obvious now that PPF does not think too much about the offer.
Prosieben said that today PPF’s offer was not a precursor to a distinct redemption offer. Instead, the company claims that it will provide other shareholders with a means of taking advantage of short -term investments and is a “better alternative to MFE’s offer. PPF will also seek more representation on the board of directors in order to have a more practical management position.
“PPF has been a long -standing investor in Prosiebensat.1 having an in -depth understanding of our business,” said Habet today. “The Executive Council supports PPF’s increased commitment to Prosiebensat.1, as evidenced by the terms of its offer, and appreciates its support for our digital transformation strategy.”
It seems that the sales plan for the Verivox electronic commercial platform as part of an agreement unveiled in March, which saw Prosieben buy the minority participations of the general private investor based in the Atlantic United States in the Paroishipmeet meetings platform and the digital company Nucom Group (excluding the perfume e-retailer flaconi), called on PPF. The agreement saw General Atlantic take a 2.5% stake in Prosieben, which was less than 10% that some were waiting for. Prosieben is now in the process of sale of Verivox to the Italian company MOLTIPLY and plans to sell the ParoishipMeet meetings and other non -essential digital services.
Prosieben also continued to reduce costs. Habet last week announced that Prosieben would remove 430 roles while the difficult financial prospects of European media groups are continuing. The company is targeting income of 2025 in anterior year of 4 billion euros ($ 3.4 billion), according to an annual file in March.
The boss of the PPF, Šmejc, said: “We have proposed a convincing offer of all cases and intend to play a much more active role in the supervisory board in the future. We hope that it will be attractive for shareholders and stakeholders and opens the way to unlock the potential of Prosiebensat.1.”
Didier Stoessel, investment director of the PPF group, added: “We are a long -term investor and a reliable partner for the companies in which we have invested. Despite the challenges of Prosiebensat.1 and the turbulent market environment, I believe that prosiebensat.1 has the right strategy in place, which we fully support. I also think that there is a general alliat among all essential digital transformation of the basic media segment.
“With a stronger participation in shareholding and the proportionate supervisory board, we will be able to support more actively the management of the Prosiebensat. 1 With our experience, namely the digital revitalization of the trade models of linear television.”
The former international chief of Paramount and Itv Studios, Maria Kyriacou, could play a key role in the future of Prosieben, having been proposed as a candidate to replace Andreas Wiele last month as president of the Prosieben Supervisory Board.
MFE, owner of Mediaset in Italy and Spain, wishes to build a European television giant that can withstand American streaming services.
