German production company Wige Media has unveiled a major restructuring plan under which it will sell its Wige Broadcast and Wige Solutions divisions in favour of developing its new sporttotal.tv platform and international business.
The announcement comes following a partnership sealed with the German Football Association (DFB) earlier this week under which the company intends to equip German amateur football clubs with special video technology that enables games to be transmitted live and fully automatically using the sporttotal.tv platform.
The company said it is therefore selling the loss-making business handling television production for domestic and international broadcasters, associations and organisers, as well as the “low-margin and capital-intensive” media technology business.
Under the agreements, Wige Broadcast will be sold to Wolfgang Reeh and the assets of Wige Solutions to Wige Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, a company newly founded by Thomas Riedel together with a partner.
The purchase price for the two operations amounts to €4m ($4.3m) in total, €3.5m of which is for Wige Solutions and €500,000 for Wige Broadcast. Wige Media is likely to receive €1.6m in cash from the transaction.
It has also been announced that the workforce of the Wige Group will be cut by 115 staff members to around 215.
“We can now invest our funds much more efficiently in promising, high margin segments,” Wige Group chief executive Peter Lauterbach said. “Wige Media will continue to operate as a general contractor in TV production while passing the risk of operational losses from the highly seasonal business to the buyer.
“In Thomas Riedel and Wolfgang Reeh, we are in future concentrating complementary competencies for our major customers. Wige Media will remain the central contact for the customers, and Thomas Riedel and Wolfgang Reeh, who have worked successfully in the media business for decades, guarantee first rate operations.”
In Germany, Wige Group produces motorsport events in the shape of Formula One and the DTM German touring car series, as well as the Handball Champions League and domestic football games.