MILAN (Reuters) -Italian broadcaster MediaForEurope (MFE) said on Tuesday it had approved a voluntary offer in shares and cash to buy the stake it does not already own in its Spanish unit Mediaset Espana.
“The offer represents an important step forward in the creation of a pan-European media and entertainment group,” MFE said in a statement.
The group, once named Mediaset and controlled by the family of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said it would offer 4.5 of its ordinary A shares, worth 3.753 euros each, and 1.860 euros in cash for each Mediaset Espana share, for a total valuation of 5.613 euros a share.
The proposed offer values Mediaset Espana around 1.76 billion euros ($1.93 billion), according to Reuters’ calculation.
The offer targets 138.8 million Mediaset Espana shares, or around 44.31% of its capital, and is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 90% of the targeted shares, the company added in a statement.
MFE last year moved its legal headquarters to the Netherlands to revive its M&A plans. It has repeatedly said it sees European consolidation as the best answer to the threat new entrants such as streaming giants pose to traditional broadcasters.
The company has adopted a dual share structure, with a 10-to-1 ratio for voting rights in a bid to have greater flexibility for financing possible deals.
Separately, MFE said on Monday it had crossed a 25% threshold in ProSiebenSat.1 voting rights as it increased its stake in the Germany’s second biggest media group.
MFE did not disclose how much its stake had increased. It said it had bought the shares on the market.
UniCredit advised MFE together with BofA on the transaction and acted as sole lender. ($1 = 0.9140 euro)
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Elvira Pollina; writing by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Tim Ahmann)
