Frankfurt am Main, December 15, 2006 – LAWFUEL – Law News, Law Jobs Network – The Munich office of the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, together with its Boston, London and Frankfurt offices, advised Saban Capital Group and German Media Partners L.P. on the sale of its shares in ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG to a consortium consisting of financial investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Permira. German Media Partners L.P. is the company through which US media entrepreneur Haim Saban (Saban Capital Group) and a group of private equity investors (including Providence Equity Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Hellman & Friedman and Bain Capital Partners) held the shares acquired in 2003 in Germany’s largest commercial television group. The transaction volume amounted to approx. € 3.1 billion. The transaction is subject to antitrust and media regulatory clearances.
Following the successful completion of the transaction, Lavena Holding 4 GmbH, the acquisition vehicle controlled by funds advised by KKR and Permira, will hold approx. 50.5% of the registered share capital of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG and launch a voluntary public takeover offer to the remaining shareholders.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges previously advised German Media Partners on the intended sale of the interest in ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG to Axel Springer AG, which was prohibited by the German antitrust authorities, as well as on a € 1.25 billion sponsor recapitalization.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s transaction team was led by partners Gerhard Schmidt and Thomas Schmid and was supported by partners James Westra, Tobias Geerling, Richard Ginsburg and Joseph Newberg as well as associates Thomas Gemmeke, Marc Gorbauch, Christian Küpker, Bernhard Rehbein and Kevin Sullivan.
About Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Weil, Gotshal & Manges is an international law firm of over 1,100 lawyers, including approximately 300 partners. Weil Gotshal is headquartered in New York, with offices in Austin, Boston, Brussels, Budapest, Dallas, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Miami, Munich, Paris, Prague, Providence, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Warsaw, Washington DC and Wilmington.
