German broadcaster’s stock falls 8% as stake valued at €760m is offered for sale

KKR and Permira Advisers are selling 25 million shares in ProSiebenSat.1 Media, a stake valued at more than €760 million. The stock fell as much as 8.1 per cent in Frankfurt today.

JPMorgan Chase is placing the shares in the German broadcaster, the bank said in an e-mailed statement. The accelerated bookbuild sale was priced at €30.67, the lower end of a price range of €30.67 to €31.15 that the shares were offered at, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before an announcement.

KKR and Permira will have about 33 per cent of ProSieben’s share capital after the sale, which is being made through holding company Lavena. The private equity investors bought a controlling stake in 2007 for €3.1 billion from US billionaire Haim Saban’s German Media Partners.

European broadcasters including ProSieben have looked for revenue elsewhere as the region’s TV-advertising market slowed. Based outside Munich, ProSieben is making more shows available on demand via the internet and producing its own content via its Red Arrow unit. – (Bloomberg)