RTL Group Interested In Belgium ProSieben Assets -Sources
11 Aprile 2011 - 7:49PM
Dow Jones News
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.