Before the general meeting of Pro Sieben Sat 1, the major Italian shareholder Media For Europe (MFE) is increasing the pressure on the German television group. MFE boss Pier Silvio Berlusconi once again demanded that Bavarians must return to their core business of TV and entertainment and shed ballast from their investment portfolio through company sales. “The first step should be to spin off the dating and e-commerce activities to create value,” the manager told the newspaper Corriere della Sera. The son of the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had already called on the Pro Sieben Sat 1 leadership to take action in the past. Pro Sieben Sat 1 declined to comment on Monday.
Recently, when presenting the balance sheet for 2023, CFO Martin Mildner admitted that they were considering parting with some assets. Mildner called the online cosmetics subsidiary Flaconi. Everything depends on the market environment. It is also unclear whether there will be income from sales this year or not until 2025. It would probably still be too early for the dating division Parship Meet Group to go public in 2024, said Pro Sieben Sat1 manager Mildner. The comparison portal Verivox is also considered a sales item in the industry. MFE has been on board with Pro Sieben Sat 1 since May 2019 and has steadily increased its share to around 29 percent. At 30 percent, the Italians would have to make a takeover offer.
When asked whether MFE was planning such an offer, Berlusconi signaled that this would only be possible if Pro Sieben Sat 1 spins off its non-core activities. “A takeover offer that also extends to companies that we know little about? And that have little to do with our core business?” Berlusconi asked, without being more specific. Meanwhile, MFE advertising sales in Italy and Spain increased by five percent in the first three months of the year. The MFE share was up around five percent in the afternoon.
Pro Sieben Sat 1 also announced the departure of board member Christine Scheffler at the end of the month. After more than five years with the group, she asked the supervisory board to terminate her contract “due to different positions on the next steps in the company’s structure.” Among other things, she is responsible for human resources and recently had to manage the reduction of more than 400 full-time jobs. According to the company, Markus Breitenecker, 55, is new to the board. The head of the Austrian subsidiary Pro Sieben Sat 1 Puls 4 will be responsible for managing the entertainment area as Chief Operating Officer (COO) together with CEO Bert Habets from April 1st. Breitenecker will take care of streaming and digital platforms and be responsible for business in Switzerland and Austria. This would mean that there would no longer be anyone on the board who was already on board when Habets launched in November 2022.