MILAN/AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - ProSiebenSat.1's major shareholder Media For Europe (MFE) is calling for the media group to be split up. The important entertainment television business should be separated from the "peripheral activities" of e-commerce and dating in order to focus on the core business, the Milan-based media group announced on Thursday. A spin-off would result in two listed companies. MFE intends to submit a corresponding proposal for the spin-off at the ProSiebenSat1 Annual General Meeting on April 30. In this context, the company around the Berlusconi family is also arguing for the inclusion of an M&A expert on the Supervisory Board.

ProSiebenSat.1 is divided into three segments: The entertainment business, with Joyn at its heart, was responsible for two thirds of Group revenues in 2023, primarily through advertising in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Around 80% of the operating result adjusted for special effects (EBITDA) comes from the core business.

A thorn in MFE's side, however, is the dating division (ParshipMeet Group) and the e-commerce business with companies such as Flaconi, Verivox and Jochen Schweizer Mydays - MFE wants ProSiebenSat.1 to bid farewell to all of these. "The ProSiebenSat.1 Executive Board has repeatedly expressed its intention to separate the segments, but has not yet made any significant progress in this respect," argued the major shareholder.

Only on Wednesday, ProSiebenSat.1 Supervisory Board Chairman Andreas Wiele had called for a rapid restructuring of the Group with a focus on television and streaming. "A conglomerate that is active in many areas has never worked, especially not in the media business," said Andreas Wiele in an interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung." /ngu/mis/rin