Permira and KKR sell €485m ProSiebenSat.1 stake

The offering could mark the beginning of the GPs' exit from the company, which is pencilled in for later this year. Possible buyers are said to include Time Warner, Axel Springer, Comcast, Dohan and News Corp.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt, according to reports - the company has struggled with its debt since advertising revenues were hit during the financial downturn. KKR and Permira are left with a 44% stake in the business.

ProSiebenSat.1 already shed non-core Nordic unit SBS to Discovery Communications for €1.325bn in December, and its Benelux division in a €1.2bn trade sale in April 2011.

The buyout houses acquired their 50.5% stake in ProSiebenSat.1 in early 2007 for €3.1bn, valuing the business at €5.9bn including debt.

Company
ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is headquartered in Munich and is Germany's largest TV broadcasting group. It operates popular broadcasting stations ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel 1 and sixx. The group was established in 2000 and currently employs around 5,000 people across Europe.

ProSiebenSat.1 posted revenues of €2.76bn in 2011 and made an operating profit of €606.7m.

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• Topics
• Exits
• DACH
• Media
• Partial sale
• Permira
• KKR
• Germany