Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset group has refuted reports that it has rejoined the auction for KirchMedia but has vowed to keep a watching brief on developments involving the bankrupt media group.
It was reported yesterday that Mediaset, which owns three Italian national TV channels, had joined forces with French broadcaster TF1 and US media magnate Haim Saban to bid for KirchMedia (see
Mediaset Rejoins KirchMedia Auction).
However Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, is among those to have voiced opposition to the idea of an outsider taking control of the media group, which has a 52% share in the coveted ProSiebenSat.1 station.
Mediaset has already pulled out of the bidding once due to political sensitivity (see News Corp Out Of The Running For Kirch, Says Report) and the latest news puts to an end for now speculation linking Berlusconi with a move for the German broadcaster.
“Mediaset group has not concluded any agreement to enter the TF-1-Haim Saban consortium aiming to present a bid for Kirch Media group,” said a statement today.
