Italian media company Mediaset is seeking approval from Germany’s Federal Cartel Office for gaining “significant competitive influence” over German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1.
The move is listed in the antitrust authority’s list of pending cases. Mediaset currently holds a 20% stake in ProSiebenSat.1.
With the approval by the Federal Cartel Office, Mediaset could increase its shareholding to up 25% and enable the company to vote at a ProSiebenSat.1 shareholder meeting scheduled in June 2020.
“We are acting in line with German rules and we are informing all the involved authorities,” a spokesman for the Italian broadcaster told Reuters. ProSiebenSat.1 declined to comment.
Following the departure of several senior executives and a sharp drop of its stock market value, ProSiebenSat.1’s supervisory board recently decided to part with CEO Max Conze, clearing the way for a change of strategy.
