The asset split could help MFE mount a potential buyout approach for ProSiebensat.1 as it looks to expand across Europe.
Controlled by the family of the late Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, MFE operates commercial TV businesses in Italy and Spain. It first invested in Munich-based ProSiebensat.1 in 2019.
"The implementation of the spin-off would result in two separate listed companies operated by their own independent management teams," MFE, which owns a nearly 30% stake in the German peer, said in a statement.
In its proposals for the German firm's upcoming AGM, MFE also asked that an M&A expert be appointed as an alternative candidate for the supervisory board and to replace current supervisory board member Rolf Nonnenmacher. MFE sees European expansion as a way to tackle the growing dominance of U.S. streaming giants such as Netflix and the flight of advertising investment to the likes of Facebook and Google.
ProSiebensat.1, however, has resisted MFE's calls to join the project and pursued a standalone strategy.
MFE CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Monday indicated that a buyout offer for ProSiebensat.1 could only be possible once its spins off the businesses.
With Germany's economy in the doldrums, ProSieben suffered a series of setbacks in 2023, slashing its dividend and lowering revenue targets before announcing a write-off on programming assets in December.
"Germany is going through a difficult phase, but it will start recovering and we need to be ready," Berlusconi said.
"ProSieben must return to its core business. The first step should be to spin off its dating and e-commerce operations to extract value," he said.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; editing by Giulia Segreti and Jason Neely)
By Elvira Pollina
