Mediaset Profit Drops, Confirms ProSiebenSat.1 Interest

MILAN, November 8: Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset has reported
a net profit for the third quarter of 36.6 million euros, down 3.7 percent on
last year, on revenues of 677.4 million euros. Announcing its results, the
Italian media company also confirmed its interest in acquiring Germany’s
ProSiebenSat.1 Media.

In a press release, the company said only that it would “present
a non-binding indication of interest,” to the German broadcasting group. This would
be Mediaset’s biggest international expansion since its 2002 acquisition of
Telecinco. The Italian broadcaster, however, could face some opposition.
According to wire reports, Wolfgang Boernsen and Reinhard Grindel of Chancellor
Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union issued a statement noting: "We
view with concern the efforts of the Italian media enterprise Mediaset to take
over the television broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1. [It is in the public's
interest] that even with private broadcasters a minimum level of good quality
and politically independent programming is guaranteed.”

Other interested parties in ProSiebenSat.1 include Apax
Partners, Goldman Sachs, NBC Universal and TF1.