Berlusconi and the move on continues: a large platform to create a European Netflix

Pier Silvio Berlusconi relaunches the ambition to build a large European entertainment platform to compete with the US giants such as Netflix, YouTube and Disney. The German newspaper Handelsblatt writes itaccording to which the CEO of Media for Europe (MFE) It is determined to accelerate the continental expansion plan, with a clear objective: to create a media pan -European group, capable of contrasting the dominion of the big tech in the advertising market and in television consumption.
In Europe, streaming has already passed traditional TV: In Germany, only 11% of advertising spending will go to linear broadcasting this year, according to the Die Mediaagenturen association. Mfe, Handelsblatt writes, already has a dominant position in Italy (35.6% share, second only to Rai) and a solid presence in Spain. Now look at Germany, where he is the first shareholder of CONTEREBENCE.1 (P7S1) with a 31%share.

Consolidation in Germany

The recent Public Purchase offer – 4.48 euros per action in cash more MFE securities – aims to consolidate the position in the second German private television group. If the opa is successful, Mfe would become the third average group in Europe for revenues, after RTL (Bertelsmann) and ITV. The offer, recalls the German Quoitidiano, is considered lower than the market value, and according to sources close to continuation, it would not be « financially adequate ». Shareholders have time until June 6 to decide.

According to Handelsblatt, Mfe does not necessarily count on the success of Opa: The goal is to exceed the 30%threshold, which allows to gradually increase the share without the obligation of a public offer. It is the same strategy used successfully in Spain, detecting low cost of the Prisa group at low cost. But on Berlusconi’s road there is the PPF Czech investment group (13% of P7S1), which offered 7 euros per share. The intent of the Czechs would not be acquired, but to climb up to 29.99% to prevent MFE from gaining control. Pier Silvio Berlusconi, writes Handelsblatt, aims to create a « European Netflix » capable of attracting international advertising investments. However, the main obstacle remains the poor synergy between national contents, the uncertainties about the economies of scale and the constraints of the antitrust authorities, which in the past have already blocked similar mergers in France and the Netherlands.

The opa minority

After announcing a minority opa in parallel to that of Mfe, they also arrived today The words of Didier Stoessel, Chief Investment Officer of the Czech group PPF – Second shareholder of Prosiebensat.1. In an interview with the economic site Wirtschaftswoche, Stoessel rejected the idea of ​​a rivalry with Mfe, defining the offer of PPF « not a declaration of war » and expressing appreciation for the results already obtained by the group led by Pier Silvio Berlusconi. Despite the challenges and cultural differences between Italy, Germany and Spain, Mfe’s strategy seems to find more and more supporters. Also because, as underlined by the experts in the sector, the European competition with the American giants today requires more solid alliances and consolidations than in the past. Handelslatt concludes his investigation with a consideration: «A consolidation of the European private television sector could become inevitable. And the Berlusconi family, with Mfe, wants to be in the front row in this transformation ».