Kirch, Rupert, Mediaset, and a Saudi Prince.......................
skyreport.com
Murdoch Eyes Mega-Deals In Germany, Italy
Sept. 23, 1998
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Italy's Mediaset plan to buy up to a quarter of Kirch Group, Germany's second-largest media company, for about $2 billion, Alwaleed's adviser told reporters Tuesday.
The deal also involves reorganizing Kirch and selling shares in the company, Tarak Ben Ammar, who is also a Mediaset board member, said in an interview. Mediaset is Italy's largest private broadcaster.
A spokesman for Kirch declined to comment.
Linking up with Kirch would create Europe's biggest TV alliance, straddling Italy, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Murdoch and Mediaset would get a foothold in Germany's potentially lucrative market, Europe's largest with more than 33 million households owning televisions.
The privately held German company, which controls digital TV venture DF1, the SAT1 commercial channel and the DSF sports channel, has debt close to $1.8 billion, analysts said. Leo Kirch has conceded that DF1 has lost about 1.4 billion marks since it began broadcasting in 1996 and attracted only a quarter of the customers it expected.
In another move, Murdoch is said to be seeking a 40 percent stake in Telecom Italia's Stream pay-television unit in an effort to expand his sports broadcasting kingdom.
Stream transmits Italian soccer games.
This latest News Corp. plot to acquire yet another piece of the global sports market is being criticized by Italian politicians and soccer fans alike. It seems a more popular choice for ownership in the Stream pay-TV network is state-run media group RAI, which has shown an interest in acquiring a 15 percent stake in the company.
Telecom Italia plans to retain a 51 percent stake in Stream after the sale.
A decision in the sale of Stream shares could be reached by the end of this week.
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