Italy's Moltiply sole suitor for ProSieben's e-unit Verivox, sources say
15/11/2024 16:24
By Elvira Pollina and Amy-Jo Crowley
MILAN, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Italy's Moltiply Group
MOL.MI has emerged as the only bidder for German media group
ProSiebenSat.1's PSMGn.DE price comparison portal Verivox, two
sources close to the matter said.
Verivox's sale process is being closely followed by the top
two investors in ProSieben: MFE-MediaForEurope MFEB.MI , the TV
group controlled by Italy's Berlusconi family, and Czech
investment company PPF.
Both MFE and PPF have called on ProSieben to focus on its
core TV business and part ways with its e-commerce and online
assets.
The two people cautioned there is no certainty a deal will
go through due to differences in the asset's valuation, which is
below ProSieben's expectations.
Sources have previously said Verivox's core profit is around
40 million euros.
Moltiply and ProSieben both declined to comment.
Verivox's ownership structure further complicates matters.
New York-based private equity firm General Atlantic has a
28% stake in Nucom, the holding company through which ProSieben
controls Verivox.
ProSieben's shareholding in Nucom includes preferred shares,
which means that the German group would take precedence over
General Atlantic in pocketing any proceeds from a potential
sale, the two sources said.
An excessively low price could stop General Atlantic from
getting its share of the proceeds, the sources said, adding the
U.S. fund needs to be on board for the transaction to go
through.
General Atlantic declined to comment.
ProSieben on Thursday said it was reviewing the disposal
of non-strategic investments, including Verivox, as well as
perfume e-retailer Flaconi. CFO Martin Mildner told investors
there were constructive discussions with potential bidders but
he could not provide details.
Besides providing digital services to banks, Moltiply, has a
division running online comparison services in Italy and other
European countries.
Both MFE and PPF this month again voiced frustration at the
slow progress of the German company's turnaround as the
advertising market remained weak.
MFE holds nearly 30% of ProSieben, just below a threshold
that under German laws would trigger a mandatory bid if crossed.
MFE operates both in Italy and Spain and started investing
in ProSieben in 2019 as part of a strategy to create a European
ad-funded TV champion.
Earlier this year, MFE stopped short of going ahead with a
bid and sought instead to promote a spin-off of ProSieben's
online dating and e-commerce assets, a move which in the future
could make it easier to proceed with a bid for a streamlined
group.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina in Milan and Amy-Jo Crowley in
London, additional reporting by Klaus Lauer in Berlin; Editing
by Valentina Za and Elaine Hardcastle)
((elvira.pollina@thomsonreuters.com;))