The shareholders of ProSiebenSat.1 Media narrowly voted against a plan that would have led to a split of the company.
Majority minority shareholders MediaForEurope (MFE) and PFF IM had called on the German TV giant’s management to consider a proposal to separate its core broadcasting and content business from its Commerce & Ventures and Dating & Video segments.
However, at the company’s annual general meeting today, the proposal did not receive the necessary support, as shareholders supported management’s plan to keep the company together and focus on the entertainment area around the streamer Joyn. A plan to change the capital structure also did not receive the required 75% approval.
Still, an MFE spokesman said the Italian company was “delighted” with the support for its proposals, claiming a “vast majority” had supported them. “Although the spin-off valuation proposal was not officially adopted, more than 70% of shareholders voted in favor,” they added.
MFE (formerly Mediaset), controlled by the Berlusconi family, submitted a number of proposals in the run-up to the general meeting. The ProSieben management immediately rejected them on the grounds that they were not in the interests of the shareholders.
However, the Czech Republic-based PFF managed to bring Christoph Mainusch, a former RTL and PFF-owned CME boss, onto the ProSieben board. MFE also managed to win over former Italian Citibank investment banker Leopoldo Attolico and former EY auditor Simone Scettri.
Senior CME executive Klára Brachtlová is already on the supervisory board and has now been confirmed in office along with former Discovery International boss Majorie Kaplan and Rolf Nonnenmacher. Katharine Beherends, MFE head in German-speaking Europe, is already on the supervisory board, which is chaired by chairman Andreas Wiele.
MFE was also able to reject a proposal to restructure around Joyn, as that streamer would be located directly under parent company ProSiebenSat.1 Media and through Seven.One Entertainment. That would have put networks and other platforms under Joyn.
“We expect the management of ProSiebenSat.1 and the supervisory board in this new composition to get to work immediately to achieve tangible results that increase the value of the company for the benefit of all shareholders,” said the MFE spokesman.
“We are pursuing a clear strategy,” said ProSieben group boss Bert Habets today. “We focus on our entertainment expertise. We put Joyn at the center. We use the potential of partnerships. And we are developing new forms of monetization. This means we are on the right track to becoming the number 1 entertainment player in the German-speaking region.”