The ProSiebenSat.1 Group has agreed to sell its TV and radio operations in Northern Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) to Discovery Networks International Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Discovery Communications; Inc. A respective sale and purchase agreement was signed on 14th December 2012. The transaction is subject to merger control clearance and is expected to be consummated in the first quarter of 2013. The production business of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group in Northern Europe (Red Arrow Entertainment Group) is not included in the transaction.
The transaction is based on an agreed enterprise value of the sold business operations of EUR 1.325 billion.
The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP advised ProSiebenSat.1 with regard to corporate, tax, finance and antitrust law. As part of the auction process, a staple financing in the form of a New York law bond was offered to the interested parties.
ProSiebenSat.1 was advised on the transaction by partners Martin Erhardt (Corporate/M&A, Munich, lead), Norbert Rieger and Christoph Rothenfusser (both Corporate/M&A, Munich), Alexander Rinne (Competition/Antitrust Munich), Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (Tax, Munich), Thomas Ingenhoven (Finance, Frankfurt), Timothy Peterson (Finance, London), and associates Michael Pujol, Roman Stenzel, Maike Hölty, Sebastian Heim, Florian Lessniak, Dominic Köstner (all Corporate/M&A, Munich), Andreas Boos, Katharina Kolb, Christoph Kahle (all Competition/Antitrust, Munich), Matthias Schell (Tax, Munich), Oliver Hahnelt, Mathias Eisen and Tobias Brinkmann (all Finance, Frankfurt), Noel Hughes and Shoshanna Harrow (both Finance, London), Merih Altay and Katherine Soanes (both Corporate/Employment, London).
