German publisher Axel Springer is taking full control of broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media, it was announced on Friday, in a 2.5 billion-euro ($3.1 billion) deal to rival giant Bertelsmann in its home market. In buying US media mogul Haim Saban's stake, Springer Chief Executive Mathias Doepfner fulfils a long-held dream of the company's late founder Axel Springer to marry the might of its conservative tabloid newspaper Bild with television.
"ProSiebenSat.1 is an investment that will pay off," Doepfner said at a news conference in a hotel in Munich, where ProSieben is based and where the deal was signed and sealed with a hug between Doepfner and Saban at 6.30 am (0430 GMT).
"We are investing in a business that is profitable even in difficult times. We are creating a structure to open up the digital business of the future," Doepfner said.
The deal will give Springer, whose domestic newspaper sales are sliding, greater access to the TV market - but it will be stuck in the advertising doldrums in Germany, Europe's slowest-growing economy, and drag it deep into debt.
Staunchly conservative Springer's forays into TV were always seen with suspicion in Germany. Doepfner sharpened the political edge of Bild and his broadsheet Die Welt during his tenure.
The deal needs cartel and media regulator approval but there are few rules on cross-ownership which could bring it down and Doepfner said he was confident of winning approval this year.
Springer and ProSieben's combined sales of 4.2 billion euros in 2004 will be second in Germany only to the world's fourth-biggest media group, Bertelsmann, which had 30 percent of its sales, or 5.1 billion euros, in its home market.
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