Premiere CEO Michael Boernicke has said the German pay-TV platform would be interested in purchasing the free to-air station Sat.1, should owners ProSiebenSat.1 put it on the market.
Boernicke’s comments to the German newspaper Handelsblatt is part of a drive to increase sales to between €2 billion and €3 billion within the medium term. The Munich based broadcaster has already rejected premiere’s advances – sounding as if they have come straight out of the News Corp TV handbook.
ProSiebenSat.1 maintains it has no plans to sell the station. However, private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Permira Advisers LLP, which last July brought ProSiebenSat.1 under the control of the SBS Broadcasting Group have already indicated the possibility of selling off non-core assets.
News Corp has meanwhile taken its share of Premiere up to 22.7%.
