KKR and Permira sell ProSiebenSat.1's Nordic unit

The investors sold all TV and radio activities in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. However, ProSiebenSat.1's production business in Northern Europe (Red Arrow Entertainment Group) is not part of the transaction.

The exit follows last year's €1.2bn trade sale of the company's Benelux division to Sanoma Corporation, Talpa Holding, Corelio and Waterman & Waterman in a bid to reduce debt. ProSiebenSat.1 held on to the Nordic business as offers at the time were deemed too low.

Discovery is said to have beaten two rival bidders, private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Nordic Capital. KKR and Permira intend to use €500m from the sale to repay debt, with the remainder being reinvested to grow the company.

The GPs will propose to issue a total dividend distribution of €1.2bn (approximately €5.60 per share) at the next shareholder meeting. This issue will not interfere with the company's leverage ratio, which will continue to sit within its target range of 1.5-2.5x net debt to recurring EBITDA, the GP said.

Previous funding
KKR and Permira acquired SBS as part of their buyout of ProSiebenSat.1 for €3.3bn in July 2007. The company has since struggled to service its €2bn debt, leading to a strategic exit from the Scandinavian and Northern European business, including partial sales of the Netherlands TV and print business and the Belgian TV business.

The investors hold a combined stake of slightly more than 50% in ProSiebenSat.1. The company's Eastern European business will also be classed as non-core assets going forward.

Company
SES owns Kanal 5 and Kanal 9 in Sweden as well as TV Norge, FEM, Vox and Max in Norway. The group's recurring EBITDA stands at €134.4m.

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• Topics
• DACH
• Consumer
• Nordics
• Portfolio management
• KKR
• Permira
• Germany
• Partial sale