New CEO at EM.Sport Media

ISMANING, March 31:
EM.Sport Media is moving closer to a merger with Switzerland’s Highlight
Communications, upping its stake in the company and tapping Highlight’s
chairman, Bernhard Burgener, to succeed Werner Klatten as its new CEO.

EM.Sport Media is
increasing it shareholding in Highlight Communications to 37.6 percent,
acquiring a further 11.3 percent from Leo Kirch’s KF 15 GmbH. Highlight is a
film, home entertainment and sports and event-marketing company whose assets
include majority stakes in Germany’s Constantin Film and Lucerne’s Team
Holding, which represents the UEFA Champions League rights.

KF 15 will receive, as
part of the deal, 34.9 million euros in cash plus 4.346 million shares in
EM.Sport Media. On completion of this transaction, KF 15 will hold 17.1 percent
of the subscribed capital of EM.Sport Media.

With the ownership
changes, EM.Sport has proposed a senior management reshuffle. Klatten, who has
been CEO of the company since 2001, is being nominated to fill the position of
deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board as of September 1, 2008. At the same
time, Bernhard Burgener, the current chairman of the Board of Directors at
Highlight Communications, succeeds Klatten as CEO of EM.Sport Media. Klatten
will assume Burgener’s role as the chairman of the board at Highlight
Communications. Burgener will retain the position of CEO of Highlight
Communications’ Board of Directors. A statement from EM.Sport notes that “these
moves thus guarantee a unified and efficient management structure for the
purposes of bringing together the two media houses.”

Alongside Burgener, the
Management Board of EM.Sport Media AG will consist of Rainer Hüther as deputy
CEO and Antonio Arrigoni, who is taking over responsibility for finance on
April 1, 2008. He was previously CFO of Highlight Communications.

Klatten commented: “With
this transaction, we are taking the next logical step in bringing together our
two companies. At the same time, we are creating value for our shareholders and
are securing new strategic opportunities for both companies in opening up new
sectors within the media market. I am delighted to be working on this outstanding
opportunity within these new and distinct roles.”

Burgener added: “Step by
step, we are approaching a strategically wise objective. Sports and
entertainment are two significant growth sectors of the media industry, and we
are systematically pursuing their expansion with the intensified unification of
this corporate group. It was with this in mind that Highlight acquired around 5
percent of EM.Sport Media shares at the end of 2006, taking the first step
towards the union of these two companies. We have now made further significant
progress towards reaching this objective. I am looking forward enormously to my
new roles in the operational management of both companies. We all now have the
opportunity to continue with the dynamic development of this emerging media
group from a sound basis.”

In related news, EM.Sport
Media reported improved earnings for 2007. Revenues were up 3.9 percent to
230.7 million euros. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization (EBITDA) were 26.8 million euros, a 34-percent increase. However,
the company’s net loss was 41.2 million euros, versus the 9.9 million euros
profit in 2006.

—By Mansha Daswani