German media company Constantin Medien has launched a bidding process with the aim of selling all its shares in German sports broadcaster Sport1 and the Sport1 Media advertising sales agency.
The shares are held by the media company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Constantin Sport Holding.
Constantin said that it is “conducting a structured and competitive bidding process with several potential buyers in view of such a sale.” It added: “The conditions for the possible sale of the shareholding have not yet been determined and will be thoroughly examined by the management board before its decision.”
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Constantin is in talks with media company Axel Springer, pay-television broadcaster Sky and other investment vehicles. Internet company Freenet has also had talks with Constantin, the report added.
The decision to explore a sale of Sport1 and the Sport1 Media divisions has been viewed with surprise in some quarters. In November Constantin announced plans to launch a second free-to-air sports channel as part of an apparent strategic shift that would have allowed the company to concentrate its efforts on the sports sector.
However, a power struggle at the helm of Constantin has raised question marks about the future direction of the company. In December a takeover approach by Constantin’s supervisory board chairman, Dieter Hahn, for the media company and its subsidiary, Highlight Commnunications, was rejected.
Constantin operates free-to-air channel Sport1 and pay-television channels Sport1 Plus and Sport1 US, as well as the Team Marketing agency.
Sport1 has rights for a number of football properties, including the German Bundesliga.