FRANKFURT (Reuters) -MFE-MediaForEurope said on Thursday it secured a 75.61% stake in ProSiebenSat.1, ending a drawn-out takeover tussle and putting it on track to become Europe’s largest free-to-air broadcaster.
The deal is part of a push by MFE, controlled by Italy’s Berlusconi family, to create a European ad-funded TV platform amid fierce competition for viewers and advertisers.
Following MFE’s regulatory filing on its public takeover offer for the German broadcaster, shares in MFE extended gains on the news and were up 4.1% at 1005 GMT.
Under German market rules, having more than 75% of voting rights would allow MFE to enter into a contract with ProSieben that gives it full access to its earnings.The offer, which had its cut-off date on Monday, valued ProSieben, which also operates in Austria and Switzerland, at about 1.8 billion euros ($2.1 billion).
The Italian group, which is also active in Spain, sees European expansion as vital for holding its own against U.S. streaming giants such as Netflix and YouTube.
MFE had been gradually building its stake since 2019, reaching a level of nearly 30% before launching a takeover bid earlier this year.
It had already effectively secured a majority in ProSieben last week after Czech group PPF, the second-largest investor, announced it would tender its stake to MFE.
According to research firm Enders Analysis, once ProSieben is consolidated, MFE will claim the title of the biggest free-to-air broadcasting operator in Europe, with revenues of 6.8 billion euros.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Elvira Pollina, editing by Friederike Heine and Tomasz Janowski)
