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The television group founded by Silvio Berlusconi has launched a €1.3bn takeover bid for the German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, as part of a long-standing push to build a pan-European media empire.
MediaForEurope, which is majority owned by the family of the late Italian prime minister and is ProSieben’s largest shareholder, has made an offer for the German company worth about €5.7 a share, said a person familiar with the matter. This would value the broadcaster’s stock at about €1.3bn.
MFE, which did not disclose the value of its bid, said its cash-and-stock offer matched ProSieben’s average trading price over the past three months, which is the minimum level required by German regulators.
ProSieben said it expected its average share price over the three months to be €5.75.
ProSieben’s share price closed at €6.53 on Wednesday, up 1.3 per cent, after media including the Financial Times reported MFE was set to launch a bid.
The Berlusconi family’s media group has long eyed ProSieben, weighing a takeover as far back as 2006.
MFE owns a 29 per cent stake in ProSieben, which broadcasts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and hosts shows such as Germany’s Next Topmodel.
MFE said it had “entered into an irrevocable undertaking with an existing shareholder” of ProSieben to accept the offer. This would increase MFE’s stake in ProSieben to more than 30 per cent, and under German regulations requires the Italian group to make an offer to buy out the company’s remaining shareholders.
MFE said it had “decided to further increase its stake in ProSieben and consequently its long-term investment and commitment to ProSieben with a view to contribute more actively to the development of ProSieben’s strategic direction in the future”.
ProSieben said its executive team and supervisory board would “carefully review the offer after publication of the offer document” and then respond.
If MFE’s offer is accepted by other ProSieben shareholders, it would give the Italian group — which also owns TV channels in Italy and Spain — a foothold in the large German-speaking market.
It would also realise the ambition of MFE chief executive Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the son of the late former Italian prime minister who founded the company, to take over ProSieben.
The German broadcaster has announced the disposal of two assets beyond its core entertainment business — the price comparison site Verivox and a stake in the wellness platform Urban Sports Club — over the past week.
These were steps MFE had pushed for even as it denied it was gearing up for a takeover bid.
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