Media

Italy’s Mediaset buys a tenth of Germany’s ProSiebenSat. 1


Mediaset, Italy’s largest private broadcaster owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has taken a nearly 10 per cent stake in Germany’s ProSiebenSat. 1 in a renewed attempt to build a pan-European free-to-air television group to fend off competition from the likes of Netflix.

The move by Mediaset, which is run by chief executive Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of the former prime minister, comes after talks about creating a Europe-wide free-to-air TV group with French Vivendi collapsed amid litigation following Vivendi’s hostile stakebuilding in the Italian group.

ProSiebenSat. 1 shares rose 7.1 per cent in early European trading on Wednesday.

In a statement, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, head of the Italian group since 2001, underlined the acquisition of a 9.6 per cent in ProSiebenSat. 1, equal to 9.9 per cent of voting rights, was a “friendly acquisition”. The two companies have already built a “strong relationship” in the European Media Alliance over the past five years, Mediaset said.

“The rapid process of globalisation that is determining the international scenario is such that European media companies like us need to join forces if we are to continue to compete, or even just resist, in terms of our European cultural identity eventual attacks by global giants,” he said.

ProSiebenSat. 1 has free-to-air TV in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while Mediaset is in Italy and in Spain with Mediaset España.



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