The drawn-out disposal of the remains of fallen German media empire Kirch Gruppe is at long last nearing an end, as quondam flagship unit KirchMedia entered exclusive negotiations with one of the groups vying for its hand.
The bidder in question is a consortium led by German magazine publisher Heinrich Bauer. Other members are expected to include Sony-owned movie studio Columbia TriStar, but not newspaper giant Axel Springer, which had once been part of the group.
Creditors of KirchMedia – whose assets include movie rights and a 52% stake in German broadcast giant ProSiebenSat.1 – accepted the consortium’s bid of just under €2 billion ($2bn; £1.3m), and have begun negotiations to finalise the deal. Talks are expected to continue for up to six weeks.
Once the deal is complete, Bauer must under German law make an offer for the rest of the ProSieben stock, potentially adding a further €750 million to the price tag.
Data sourced from: Financial Times; additional content by WARC staff
