mediaset strengthens hand for european tv merger talks with pro7 stake - a smart board

MILAN/Frankfurt (Reuters)-
Mediaset, an Italian broadcaster, bought a 9.
A 6% stake in Germany's ProSiebenSat.
1, in any future discussion about creating pan, effectively ensure the seating on the table
European television company
News of 0. 33 billion euros ($368 million)
A few months ago, there were rumours that Mediaset, controlled by former Prime Minister Fininvest, wanted to merge with Munich. Based on ProSieben.
The defeated German group
Shares fell 7% in response.
Both companies, as well as the European rival RTL Group and the UK's ITV, struggled with weak advertising revenue as young viewers turned to Netflix and Amazon Prime's streaming
Mediaset, 28
Vivendi, the French media giant, owns a 8% stake and makes no secret of being the first free pan-
European Broadcasting Corporation
However, try to cross so far
Create a so-
What is called "European airlines" is gone because of the lack of synergies --
This is the result of a diverse audience of languages and different tastes in the region.
In April, Mediaset's chief financial officer told shareholders that there was no plan to expand in Germany through ProSiebenSat. The Milan-
The US-based broadcaster tried to pay in 2016.
The TV deal with Vivendi aims to build a southern European media giant.
But when vivindi retreated to the second line, the deal failed, leading to a court battle that had worsened the relationship between the two.
Later, due to antitrust issues, Italian regulators forced Vivendi to transfer most of its voting rights in Mediaset to trust companies.
Vivendi is the largest shareholder of Italian telecom.
Vivendi's salary earlier this week
Television group Canal Plus has agreed to acquire the European rival M7 for about 1 billion euros to expand its operations in a range of European countries.
Vivendi declined to comment on Mediaset's acquisition of ProSiebenSat shares. 1.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mediaset Chief Executive Silvio Berlusconi, son of Italy's former prime minister, said: "The friendly acquisition of ProSiebenSat shares. 1 is a long-term choice.
In response, ProSieben CEO Max Conze welcomed Mediaset's stake as "a vote of confidence in our strategy and our team ".
Sources from both sides stressed that the move was a financial investment.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters that Mediaset does not intend to further increase its stake or seek a board representative at the German group.
Bankers and analysts say shares in ProSieben hit 7-
The three-year low reflects the market's doubts about Kanazawa's pursuit of turning things around. Kanzer joined the British home appliance manufacturer Dyson in last June.
Conze reorganized ProSieben into three sectors and hopes to strengthen its e-commerce
The business portfolio has diversified from traditional commercial television, supporting his own strategy by investing 2 million euros in ProSieben shares.
"This is Mediaset's smart opportunistic move to value," said a media banker at the deal . ".
The banker added that the move will also prevent possible acquisitions by private equity firms that have been watching ProSieben recently.
Another banker said Mediaset bought the stake through an option structure called "collarbone", which actually enabled it to acquire the stake at a time without triggering 3% and 5%
Chinese investors have deployed this approach to hold shares in the carmaker Daimler, which has heightened concerns in Germany that foreign investors and their advisers have found ways to bypass the system
Also free control of Mediaset in Spanishto-
Spanish broadcaster Mediaset Espana is now the second of ProSieben
The largest shareholder in voting rights, second only to global investors in Capital Research.
Mediaset's treasurer said last month that the group could take up 1 billion euros ($1. 1 billion)
New financing for potential acquisitions.
Mediaset said the deal would not affect the decision to pay the dividend expected in July.
The battle with Vivendi has made Mediaset weaker relative to other potential participants in any "European flight" program, which makes the acquisition of ProSieben shares a part of any broader transaction
A banker familiar with the matter said negotiations were ongoing on forming a coalition between Mediaset, ProSieben and Discovery and with the French TF1 and RTL groups.
Meanwhile, ProSieben is looking for more partners for its own streaming platform "joyn", which will be launched in June in collaboration with Discovery Inc. Luxembourg-
RTL-based ProSieben declined an invitation to sign up for Joyn and is working on its own streaming project.
However, the company's CEO's recent sudden departure has led bankers to think RTL could be more open to cooperation.
Mediaset's move comes two weeks before ProSieben's annual general meeting and nine existing board members of the company will be re-appointedelection.