Enlarge image
Close connections to Daniel Kretinsky:
Czech billionaire
Renáta Kellnerová
Photo: PPF
The richest woman in the Czech Republic, billionaire
Renáta Kellnerová
(55), has risen to become the second largest shareholder in the ProSiebenSat.1 (P7S1) television group.
Kellnerová, heir to entrepreneur Petr Kellner
, who died in a helicopter crash in Alaska two years ago
, holds 9.1 percent of ProSiebenSat.1, the PPF Group, founded by Kellner, announced on Tuesday.
There is also an option to acquire a further 0.9 percent.
According to its own statements, the PPF Group operates several television and online media companies in Central and Southeast Europe, such as Central European Media with a large number of television channels.
It sees itself as an active investor in the areas of telecommunications, media and technology.
The sudden entry of the Czech at P7S1 is still a surprise, because another engagement from the country at ProSiebenSat.1 was not so long ago.
In 2020, the investor
Daniel Kretinsky
(47) bought up to 12 percent of P7S1 through his investment company Czech Media Invest (CMI).
Since then he has exited step by step, choosing a favorable time for his withdrawal: the P7S1 share price had recovered in the meantime, the Czech made a good cut.
Kretinsky is a major shareholder in the German retail group Metro and has taken over Vattenfall's shares in the German lignite business.
Last but not least, he is privately connected to Renáta Kellnerová: Kretinsky is in a relationship with her daughter
Anna Kellnerová
(26), a show jumper.
For the extended family, this is the second entry into P7S1 within a short period of time.
Connections between Kellnerová and Kretinsky
The connection between Kellnerová and Kretinsky also goes back a long time: Kellnerová's deceased husband Petr Kellner was Kretinsky's business partner.
In 2009, together with a partner, both founded EPH, a holding company for investments in the energy sector.
Kellner gave the most money, Kretinsky arranged the most deals - a win-win situation for both partners.
P7S1 also puts the new entry of the clan in the vicinity of the old investment: "We assume a close alliance between Kellnerová and Kretinsky, even if it is not the same investment vehicle," said a broadcaster spokeswoman.
It is currently unclear what role the Czech billionaire will play in P7S1 in the future.
A first statement was interpreted by the company as support for the previous course.
"PPF believes that ProSieben's digital transformation creates value for all shareholders," wrote the new shareholder.
"We are pleased that Ms. Kellnerová sees ProSiebenSat.1 as an attractive investment and places her trust in our company," commented a company spokeswoman.
Struggling for the right business model
Background: P7S1 is under pressure, the share price has fallen almost continuously over the past five years from just under 33 euros to just 6.50 euros at times.
Between June 2021 and a low in October 2022 alone, the value fell by around two thirds.
There is a dispute about the right business model for the broadcasting group, with the main choice being between advertising financing and the subscription model.
While subscription payment models are slowly gaining ground in the media business in the shadow of Spotify and Netflix, P7S1 even relied on advertising financing for its streaming platform Joyn.
Although subscription models require more expensive programs, they offer more stable income.
Just how shaky advertising financing is in comparison this winter shows.
According to figures from the service provider Nielsen, the TV advertising market collapsed by 9.8 percent in January.
The basic orientation of the business model of P7S1 is also controversial among investors and on the supervisory board.
Rainer Beaujean
(54), the former P7S1 boss, had fallen out with the largest shareholder, the Italian holding Media for Europe (MfE) of the Italian media billionaire and politician
Silvio Berlusconi
(86).
The Berlusconi company wants to create a pan-European television company and is therefore urging ProSiebenSat.1 to cooperate in its core business.
MfE also wants to increase its stake in ProSiebenSat.1 to almost 30 percent of the voting rights.
According to its own statements, the company does not want to take full control of the group.
Kretinsky was also considered a supporter of Beaujeans and has so far acted as a strategic opponent of Media for Europe in several markets.
Most recently, both parties competed against each other a few months ago as interested parties for the French RTL subsidiary M6, until the sale was canceled.
Beaujean surprisingly resigned last October, ten months after extending his contract.
He was replaced by
Bert Habets
(52), who came from RTL and observed the conflict from the P7S1 supervisory board.
Since then, the share price has risen.
So much praise in advance – Habets wants to present his strategy next week.
cr, mg/Reuters, dpa-afx