Italy’s Moltiply sole suitor for ProSieben’s e-unit Verivox, sources say

Published On : 11/16/2024

By Elvira Pollina and Amy-Jo Crowley

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Moltiply Group has emerged as the only bidder for German media group ProSiebenSat.1’s price comparison portal Verivox, two sources close to the matter said.

Verivox’s sale process is being closely followed by the top two investors in ProSieben: MFE-MediaForEurope, the TV group controlled by Italy’s Berlusconi family, and Czech investment company PPF.

Both MFE and PPF have called on ProSieben to focus on its core TV business and part ways with its e-commerce and online assets.

The two people cautioned there is no certainty a deal will go through due to differences in the asset’s valuation, which is below ProSieben’s expectations.

Sources have previously said Verivox’s core profit is around 40 million euros.

Moltiply and ProSieben both declined to comment.

Verivox’s ownership structure further complicates matters.

New York-based private equity firm General Atlantic has a 28% stake in Nucom, the holding company through which ProSieben controls Verivox.

ProSieben’s shareholding in Nucom includes preferred shares, which means that the German group would take precedence over General Atlantic in pocketing any proceeds from a potential sale, the two sources said.

An excessively low price could stop General Atlantic from getting its share of the proceeds, the sources said, adding the U.S. fund needs to be on board for the transaction to go through.

General Atlantic declined to comment.

ProSieben on Thursday said it was reviewing the disposal of non-strategic investments, including Verivox, as well as perfume e-retailer Flaconi. CFO Martin Mildner told investors there were constructive discussions with potential bidders but he could not provide details.

Besides providing digital services to banks, Moltiply, has a division running online comparison services in Italy and other European countries.

Both MFE and PPF this month again voiced frustration at the slow progress of the German company’s turnaround as the advertising market remained weak.

MFE holds nearly 30% of ProSieben, just below a threshold that under German laws would trigger a mandatory bid if crossed.

MFE operates both in Italy and Spain and started investing in ProSieben in 2019 as part of a strategy to create a European ad-funded TV champion.

Earlier this year, MFE stopped short of going ahead with a bid and sought instead to promote a spin-off of ProSieben’s online dating and e-commerce assets, a move which in the future could make it easier to proceed with a bid for a streamlined group.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina in Milan and Amy-Jo Crowley in London, additional reporting by Klaus Lauer in Berlin; Editing by Valentina Za and Elaine Hardcastle)

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