The Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky has acquired a 5% stake in the French broadcaster TF1.
Quoted by Les Echos, he justified his investment by saying that he has “confidence in the French economy and its prospects. Kretinsky added ““TF1 is a company in which we believe because of its solidity. We also believe in the merger with M6, which we are very much in favour of”.
Les Echos points out that Kretinsky was an unsuccessful candidate for the takeover of M6 this spring.
Kretinsky owns several assets in France and although he plans to increase his stake in TF1 he also intends to remain a passive investor.
Broadband TV News notes that Kretinsky is the majority shareholder in EPH, a leading Central European energy group that owns and operates assets in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the UK, France and Switzerland.