Overview

• Having secured only 43.6% at the August 13 deadline, MFE benefits from a two-week Nachfrist that gives shareholders until September 1 to tender additional shares.
• ProSiebenSat.1’s management and supervisory board have endorsed MFE’s revised offer, which combines cash and MFE shares at an implied value of around €8 per share.
• Czech investor PPF holds roughly 18.4% of shares and has maintained its €7-per-share bid rather than countering MFE’s improved terms.
• The European Commission and Germany’s Bundeskartellamt cleared prior filings, and no antitrust hurdles have emerged for the deal.
• German culture minister Wolfram Weimer has raised editorial independence concerns and is scheduled to meet MFE CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi.