Bauer Media Group has emerged as the favourite to acquire a majority stake in the Polish national commercial broadcaster TVN, according to Gazeta Wyborcza, citing three independent sources.
It adds that that the value of the 51% stake, currently held by ITI and Canal+, is likely to be around PLN3.5 billion (€837.3 million), with the buyer also set to cover TVN’s debts, which amounted to PLN2.1 billion in 2014.
Bauer Media Group already has a number of media assets in Poland including the radio company RMF Group, interia.pl portal and several magazines.
It is understood to have submitted the best offer for TVN, which is also attracting strong interest from Time Warner and Discovery Communications.
Along with 12 TV channels, TVN operates the VOD service Player.pl and portal TVN24.pl.
The results of the sale are likely to be announced by the end of this month.
