financetom
Business
financetom
/
Business
/
ProSieben seeks potential suitors for e-units Verivox, Flaconi, sources say
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
ProSieben seeks potential suitors for e-units Verivox, Flaconi, sources say
Jul 26, 2024 3:20 AM

LONDON/BERLIN, July 26 (Reuters) - German media group

ProSiebenSat.1 has reached out to potential buyers of

its online businesses Verivox and Flaconi, sources said, as it

seeks to respond to investor calls for it to focus on its core

operations.

In recent weeks advisory firm PJT Partners ( PJT ), which is

handling the sale of Verivox, has sent out information about the

price comparison website to potential bidders, according to two

sources with knowledge of the matter.

One of the sources said Verivox, which last year reported

sales of 162 million euros ($176 million), could be valued at

around 400-500 million euros. The second person quantified the

unit's core profit in 40 million euros.

A third person familiar with the process said ProSieben

had also opened a dataroom for its online perfume retailer

Flaconi, which had 2023 revenue of 389 million euros.

"We said ... that we would start the sale process for

Verivox and Flaconi. And that is exactly what we have done and

we are on track with the process," ProSieben said in statement.

PJT declined to comment.

Leading ProSieben investors MFE-MediaForEurope and

Czech investment firm PPF have both called on ProSieben CEO Bert

Habets to focus on the TV business and ditch non-core assets.

A motion put forward by MFE to force ProSieben to spin off

its e-commerce and online dating businesses fell just short of

the required majority at the company's April general meeting,

but ProSieben management said it would press ahead with the

disposal of Verivox and Flaconi.

According to a fourth source close to the matter, ProSieben

plans to complete at least one of the sales within the first

quarter of 2025, ahead of its annual general meeting.

JPMorgan analysts this month calculated the disposals of

Verivox and Flaconi could raise 670 million euros which

ProSieben could use to cut its net debt.

Both MFE and PPF tightened their grip on ProSieben's

supervisory board at this year's annual general meeting, with

their candidates prevailing over those put forward by the

company.

MFE, controlled by Italy's Berlusconi family, holds nearly

30% of ProSieben and has ambitions to create a European TV

champion. It operates in Italy and Spain.

PPF, which is ProSieben's No.2 investor with a 15% stake,

owns the CME television business with stations in six central

and eastern European countries and 49 million viewers.

($1 = 0.9215 euros)

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Eni pockets 3.6 bln euros from stake sales in biofuel unit to KKR
Eni pockets 3.6 bln euros from stake sales in biofuel unit to KKR
Apr 11, 2025
MILAN, April 11 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni said on Friday it completed the sale of an additional 5% stake in Enilive to U.S. fund KKR, bringing the total proceeds from the disposal of two minority stakes in its biofuel unit to 3.6 billion euros ($4.1 billion). This second deal with KKR was announced in February after a previous...
Prospect Capital Signs Deal to Acquire QC for $2 per Share
Prospect Capital Signs Deal to Acquire QC for $2 per Share
Apr 11, 2025
09:02 AM EDT, 04/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Prospect Capital ( PSEC ) and QC Holdings have signed a deal under which a portfolio company of Prospect will acquire the latter in an all-cash transaction for $2 per share, for a total of about $115 million in enterprise value, the companies said Friday. The transaction, unanimously approved by the board of...
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Aug 17, 2025
SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country's two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android phones, excluding rival search engines. The fine extends a bumpy period for the Alphabet-owned internet giant in Australia,...
Fortuna Mining to Sell Burkina Faso Business for $130 Million in Cash
Fortuna Mining to Sell Burkina Faso Business for $130 Million in Cash
Apr 11, 2025
09:06 AM EDT, 04/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Fortuna Mining ( FSM ) said Friday that it has agreed to sell its interest in Roxgold Sanu, owner and operator of Yaramoko Mine, and three other subsidiaries with exploration permits in Burkina Faso, to Soleil Resources International for $130 million in cash. Under the terms of the deal, Fortuna said Soleil will...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved