ProSiebenSat.1 COO Exits

MUNICH: Patrick Tillieux is exiting his position as COO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, effective June 30, with his responsibilities to be taken over by CEO Thomas Ebeling.

Tillieux’s mandate included group operations, free and pay TV outside of Germany, radio and print. He came to the company following its 2007 acquisition of SBS Broadcasting, where he had been acting CEO. "Patrick Tillieux has provided entrepreneurial passion and profound media experience to SBS and ProSiebenSat.1 for the past eight years," said Götz Mäuser, the chairman of the supervisory board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media. "We want to thank Patrick especially for his contribution in the integration process of the two companies. We regret his decision to leave ProSiebenSat.1 and wish him all the best in his future career."

Announcing his move, Tillieux said: "Eight years of building a great media company have been a tremendous time for me. I had the pleasure and the privilege of leading great teams in each of our European territories. Together with them I look back at the successful turn-around of our Belgian and Danish operations, the formidable development of our Dutch television and print operations, the creation and launch of several secondary channels and in particular our female channels, the negotiation of large and solid distribution for our Scandinavian channels, the successful disposal of our Nordic pay-TV C More and finally the combination of SBS Broadcasting with ProSiebenSat.1. Now, after two years of good progress with the integration of SBS into ProSiebenSat.1, is the right time for me to move on. I believe ProSiebenSat.1 carries all the elements necessary for successful further development."

In related news, KKR, which owns ProSiebenSat.1 with Permira, has reportedly reached out to investors of one of its European private-equity funds for 730 million euros to support six of its companies, Bloomberg reports. KKR is said to be in need of funding for debt restructures and equity injections in its investments, and ProSiebenSat.1 is likely to be a recipient, reports indicate.