Takeover for Germany's top TV firm

A group led by US television billionaire Haim Saban has won the long fight to buy Germany's biggest broadcaster from insolvent media group KirchMedia.

The deal went through on Saturday after months of haggling and ultimatums, making Mr Saban the first foreigner to control a major slice of German TV.

The terms of the deal give Mr Saban control of 36% of the shares - which, given the complex voting structure of the company, means he controls 72% of the votes on the board.

The first task will be to revitalise an outfit which - despite its commanding size - has been losing ground to its rivals.

The advertising downturn has hit the company hard, pushing it deep into the red as it watched market share and viewer eyeballs turn to the channels of the RTL Group, owned by Germany's other publishing and broadcasting giant Bertelsmann.

In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Mr Saban promised that the revamp would not make the station - as some have feared - "too American".

Neither, he said, would he try to push for profitability too soon.

Haim Saban's bid has succeeded at the second attempt

"It will be my job to ensure that the relationship between Hollywood and ProSiebenSat.1 is strengthened and redeveloped, particularly because we do not possess the Kirch film library," Saban told the paper in an English-language interview translated into German.

"Television is always local - it has local presence and its local stars - and this is despite all the globalization."

Long haul

KirchMedia, once a global media player with broadcast rights to Formula 1 racing and World Cup football, declared itself insolvent in April last year.

Its creditors have been urgentlytrying to get rid of ProSiebenSat.1, the group's prime asset, ever since.

Last December, a deal with a German publisher fell through as Mr Saban stepped into the ring.

But then Mr Saban's own first attempt fell apart mostly on worries about whether he could line up the necessary funding.

This time, Mr Saban's offer is backed by a group of private equity firms.

"It was a great opportunity, an unbelievable possibility," he told a meeting with Bavarian officials who represent the region where the company is headquartered. "If I'd failed nine times, I'd have tried 10 times".

The US-Israeli businessman, who made his fortune through children's TV characters such as the Power Rangers, said he had "no plans" to cut jobs, or to change "the channels' fundamental philosophies".