At the weekend, the takeover of Pro Sieben Sat.1 was almost a done deal.
Then it leaked out that the holding company of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Media For Europe (MFE), had registered the "acquisition of de facto sole control" of Germany's largest private television network.
Namely at the Austrian competition authority BWB, dated December 13, which did not make the cryptic message any more understandable.
Pro Sieben Sat.1 now owns the channels Puls and ATV in Austria, but the Italian major shareholder is known to have an interest in the entire Munich media group, with whose German-language channels he is only too happy to forge a pan-European television provider.
Step by step, Berlusconi's MFE has therefore increased its stake in Pro Sieben Sat.1 to almost 30 percent, thereby fueling speculation that a majority takeover will soon take place.
The takeover is not that easy
In addition, the Dutchman Bert Habets is now directing the Munich suburb of Unterföhring. It is not known that he rejected the Italian idea as categorically as his predecessor Rainer Beaujean, who had to leave early in October.
But the takeover is certainly not as simple as registering with an Austrian authority.
In fact, MFE had to submit this notification under Austrian law, since the major shareholder with its stake in Pro Sieben Sat.1 can already control a majority of the voting rights in the shareholders' meetings.
The shareholders still have to be convinced of the idea of being able to leverage economic synergies on the very different television markets in Europe.
MFE has not yet found a financially strong partner who will secure the billion-euro takeover.
And that Berlusconi, of all people, as the influential majority owner of Pro Sieben Sat.1, could guarantee the socially desired distance from the state for the program is something that not only domestic politicians have great doubts about.
"The takeover of Twitter by an egomaniacal billionaire already shows the destructive power for the media system and not least the damage to the company itself, which has massively lost its attractiveness as an advertising platform," warns the Verdi union as a precaution.
The German Association of Journalists, in turn, is calling on the media regulators in Germany and Austria to prevent the takeover.
“minibus with prostitutes”
All this can be indifferent to Berlusconi.
The 86-year-old millionaire, who boasted about his friendship with Putin during the Italian election campaign and last week promised his footballers from AC Monza "a minibus with prostitutes" for victories over Milan and Juve, cares little about the public.
He does not even have to submit a lucrative purchase offer for all shareholders to increase his influence over the German competitor.
Pro Sieben Sat.1 generates higher margins than its own shop, so the investment is already worthwhile for them.
In any case, there should be movement in the European media landscape, because other media houses such as RTL or Axel Springer have long recognized that something should gradually be done to counter the powerful American competitors Netflix, Amazon & Co.
