Mediaset, the Italian television group, is understood to have re-entered the auction for Kirch Media, the German media division of the collapsed Kirch empire (see News Corp Out Of The Running For Kirch, Says Report).
According to the
Financial Times, Mediaset has joined a consortium bid involving leading French broadcaster TF1 and US billionaire investor, Haim Saban (see
Two Bidders To Compete For Kirch Assets). The prime asset of the Kirch Media group is the ProSiebenSAT1 station, Germany’s largest free to air broadcaster.
Mediaset is owned by the family of the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and had originally withdrawn its bid due to this political sensitivity. German politicians have already expressed concern about the possibility of a foreign prime minister holding control of Germany’s largest free television channel. It is thought that Kirch Media will favour consortia that include German businesses.
Other bids come from a consortium comprising Lehman Brothers, German retailer Rewe and Saudi prince Al-Waleed and a Sony/German Commerzbank grouping.
