CME Chief Hails Benefits of Time Warner Investment

PREMIUM: Adrian Sarbu, president and CEO of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), tells World Screen about the potential for sharing expertise and resources with Time Warner, which yesterday upped its stake in the company.

Prices of Central European Media Enterprises’ stock gained yesterday following a new share purchase by Time Warner, which picked up a further 3.1 million shares for $19.45 each. The media conglomerate now owns 34.4 percent of CME. It first invested in the company back in 2009.

“To have a strategic investor like Time Warner is the dream of many media companies in the world,” Sarbu recently told World Screen. “Time Warner is a strong content company. We are a strong content company in our region and there are a lot of affinities with respect to the way we see the development of our businesses. We think we can share expertise and resources. We are a buyer of Time Warner content, not only for television, but also for theatrical and home-video distribution. We also have several projects in development with Warner Bros.”

Sarbu continued, “A lot of investors ask me what the benefits are of Time Warner’s investment. The first benefit of having Time Warner as a shareholder is the fact that it’s Time Warner. The second is the way we can structure CME in the future and harmonize with Time Warner’s strategy for content, which is similar to ours.”

See more from Sarbu in the MIPTV edition of World Screen.