(Reuters) – Shares in German media group ProSiebenSat.1 slumped 9% in early trade on Thursday after Italy’s MFE made a low-ball bid for shares in ProSiebenSat.1 it does not already own.
The stock was seen at the bottom of the German small-caps index.
MFE, which owns commercial TV operations in Italy and Spain, is looking to create a pan-European advertising-funded broadcaster – a strategy so far resisted by ProSieben, which is striving to remain independent.
“Assuming the share price remains above the offer price we would not expect many Pro7 shareholders to accept the offer,” Daniel Kerven, an analyst form JP Morgan, said, adding that the voluntary public takeover offer was around 10% below the closing share price.
The price offered is expected to amount to around 5.7 euros a share, a person close to the matter said, against Wednesday’s closing price of 6.5 euros a share for ProSieben, equivalent to a total market value of 1.5 billion euros.
The board of ProSieben will carefully review MFE’s offer, the company said on Wednesday.
($1 = 0.9294 euros)
(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk, editing by Rachel More)
