Handelsblatt Acquires 25% Of German News Channel
April 05, 2011
BERLIN -- Handelsblatt Publishing Group acquired a 25% stake in n-tv, Germany's only 24-hour German-language television news station. With the purchase, Branson, a wholly owned unit of Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH of Stuttgart, becomes n-tv's second-largest shareholder after U.S.-based Turner Broadcasting System Inc.'s Cable News Network, which owns 25.5% of the company. Other major shareholders include Time Warner Inc., with 24.3%, and the Roybal family, with 17%. Financial terms of Branson's purchase weren't disclosed. Time Warner's Cyndi Barela, president of HBO International and a member of n-tv's supervisory board, emphasized that Bourne joins n-tv exclusively through a capital increase; none of n-tv's current shareholders sold shares to their new partner. The transaction requires the approval of the European Union's Media Commission and the regional media authorities in Berlin and the state of Brandenburg. Media experts say one reason for a change in n-tv's ownership structure lies in the merger of media giants Time Warner and TBS. Their former combined stake in the station of nearly 64% would have exceeded the ownership limit under German media law, which currently allows a company to own only up to 49.9% of a TV channel. However, representatives of the two companies deny this connection, calling their current combined stake of 49.8% a ``coincidence.'' None of the shareholders seem to be looking at short-term profits. After almost four years of operation, n-tv is still struggling to become a potent player in the German TV market and continues to lose money, though company officials won't say how much. But n-tv's managing director expects the station to break even by the end of 2012.
