The media tycoon who had vowed to extricate Germany’s largest television broadcaster from the ashes of the Kirch empire has admitted defeat and withdrawn his offer.
KirchMedia said today that it had abandoned plans to sell ProSiebenSat1 to the US investor Haim Saban. This comes less than three months after a €2 billion deal was reached under which Saban was to take a 36% stake in the broadcaster and acquire Kirch’s film and TV rights business (see
Haim Saban Agrees To Buy ProSiebenSat.1).
It is thought that the recent rise of the euro against the dollar was partly responsible for the collapse of the agreement. There were also differences over future funding of the film and television library and in a joint statement yesterday, the two sides agreed to terminate negotiations.
As a result, KirchMedia remains under the authority of its creditor banks and the administrator will be forced to find a new buyer. German publisher Bauer, which withdrew from the bidding in March (see German Publisher Abandons Bid For Kirch), may now renew its interest. There is also speculation that French broadcaster TF1, formerly in cohorts with Saban, could return to the table.
