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The television empire founded by Silvio Berlusconi has stepped up its campaign against German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, calling for the company to “act faster” and make “radical choices” in a move that will fuel speculation it plans a takeover bid.
MediaForEurope (MFE), which is majority owned by the family of the late Italian prime minister and is ProSieben’s largest shareholder, responded to the company’s quarterly results on Thursday with a public call for more growth, less debt and a faster disposal of assets outside its core entertainment business.
“The current economic situation of the advertising market in Germany increases the sense of urgency,” said Marco Giordani, MFE’s chief financial officer. “We therefore ask the supervisory board and the executive board to act faster, accelerating change and efficiency measures also through radical choices, without further delays.”
With a 29.9 per cent stake in ProSieben, MFE is a fraction below the 30 per cent threshold for making a mandatory takeover offer under German law.
MFE declined to comment when asked whether the company — which has previously denied planning a takeover bid — was preparing to make a move.
ProSieben also declined to comment.
MFE’s latest statements come after a boardroom battle earlier this year, when the group led a campaign to appoint new directors and explore spinning off non-core assets.
At the time, Giordani said that while the group had become “more and more convinced about [the need for] European consolidation”, he added ProSieben “needs to find a new way before thinking about [a potential acquisition]”.
MFE has grown increasingly impatient with ProSieben, a popular entertainment channel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland that hosts shows such as Germany’s Next Topmodel, said two people familiar with its thinking.
Having initially been supportive of ProSieben chief executive Bert Habets, MFE has grown frustrated at what it sees as his failure to enact his proposed strategy.
One person familiar with ProSieben’s thinking pushed back against the claim, saying: “Everything they wanted from us in the last two years, we have done.”
The company has lost about 90 per cent of its share price since its 2015 peak as it, like other European broadcasters, has struggled with falling advertising revenues and the growth of streaming.
Announcing its quarterly results on Thursday, ProSieben said private consumption, which is vital for TV advertising, had “not developed as positively as we expected” in 2024.
Revenues were roughly flat in the third quarter of this year at €882mn, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were down 6 per cent to €104mn. The company said its earnings for the first nine months of the year were in line with expectations.
Acquiring the Bavaria-based broadcaster would give MFE, which also owns channels in Italy and Spain, a foothold in the large German-speaking market, and would bolster the long-standing ambition of chief executive Pier Silvio Berlusconi to create a pan-European group.
The people familiar with the company’s thinking said MFE wanted ProSieben to dispose of assets such as its online beauty retailer Flaconi and price comparison website Verivox before making a move, as well as dealing with net financial debt that stood at €1.6bn at the end of September.
In its results, ProSieben said it “continues to pursue active portfolio management” and it “is reviewing the disposal of non-strategic investments”, flagging Flaconi and Verivox.
