Acunmedya’s investment in Sport1 has been finalised: The Turkish media company acquires 50% of the shares in the German sports broadcaster.
All closing conditions, in particular the media and antitrust approvals, were met, according to Sport1.
Sport1 Medien, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Swiss media group Highlight Communications, Acunmedya had agreed on 23 February 2024 to acquire 50% of the shares in Sport1 as part of a strategic alliance.
As part of the closing, the two partners have agreed that there will only be one Managing Director at Sport1. Until now, Dr Matthias Kirschenhofer and Robin Seckler were Managing Directors of Sport1 in addition to their role as Co-CEOs of Sport1 Medien. As of today, 2 August, Kirschenhofer will become the sole Managing Director of Sport1. Seckler will continue to act as Co-CEO of Sport1 Medien together with Kirschenhofer.
In addition to the investment, a content partnership is also planned as part of the strategic alliance: Entertainment and sports entertainment programmes from Acunmedya are to be brought to German free-TV on Sport1. The first step will be a German version of the sports reality format Exatlon, which will start in September this year.
“We are excited to start our partnership with Highlight Group and Sport1, driven by a shared passion and vision for innovation. As we collaborate with the Sport1 team, we see incredible opportunities to offer a wide range of sports and entertainment content for our German-speaking audience and create an inspiring success story with our partner,” said Acun Il?cal?, Founder and Owner of Acunmedya Group.
Bernhard Burgener, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sport1 Medien, added: “We are very pleased with the successful closing: With Acunmedya we have found an outstanding strategic investor and a great partner. Together with Acunmedya, we will open a new chapter for Sport1. The cooperation offers us excellent opportunities to further expand our offering so that we can deliver even more innovative sports and entertainment content that will inspire our viewers.”
