ProSiebenSat.1 stated Monday that MediaForEurope had rejected an offer for a seat on its supervisory board. This suggests that there has not been a compromise reached with the top investor prior to a May shareholder vote.
MFE is controlled by Silvio Berlusconi’s family. It has a more than 25% voting share in ProSieben and has asked for closer cooperation.
ProSieben has been asked by a Milan-listed company to hold talks about strategy. ProSieben will focus on its core TV business.
ProSieben stated in December that it would extend CEO Rainer Beaujean’s contract to 2027. The supervisory board planned to nominate Andreas Wiele (an ex-member of Axel Springer’s executive board) as its new chairman.
MFE did not receive advance notice of the plan, and MFE was not involved in the decision to nominate Rolf Nonnenmacher and Bert Habets, former RTL boss, for two other seats to be redistributed at ProSieben’s annual general meeting on 5 May.
ProSieben started Monday in a statement that the supervisory board unanimously approved ProSieben’s proposals. They were the results of a thorough selection process, which began in mid-2021.
MFE was also given the chance to submit its candidate in exchange for the support of the candidates on the supervisory board.
It stated that MFE-MediaForEurope had rejected the proposal and regretted it.
MFE has no supervisory board members but reserves the right to present other candidates by April 20.
MFE has no interest in any controversy. MFE spokesperson said that the company’s position would be made public at the right time and in the best interests of shareholders and the company.”
According to a source, MFE’s board of directors could be updated at Tuesday’s meeting.
Formerly Mediaset, MFE views building a champion TV channel in Europe as the solution to streaming giants like Netflix and other online advertising platforms.
German TV Group ProSieben, for its part, has pursued a separate strategy while also investing in tech businesses such as eCommerce operations and online dating platform ParshipMeet.