wundert mich ja, dass das hier noch kein groesseres thema ist. waere schliesslich ein MEGA-ipo
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Bertelsmann May Be Taken Public as GBL Plans for IPO
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Bertelsmann AG, Europe's biggest media company, may become publicly traded for the first time as Belgium's Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA prepares to sell its 25 percent stake.
GBL, the holding company controlled by Belgian billionaire Albert Frere, may seek a listing for Guetersloh, Germany-based Bertelsmann after the end of May ``if the market conditions are favorable,'' the company said in a statement today. ``We are prepared for an IPO,'' Bertelsmann Chief Executive Officer Gunter Thielen said in a statement.
The stake in Bertelsmann may fetch as much as 5.4 billion euros ($6.6 billion), said Maurice Rosenthal, a media analyst with Dexia Securities in Brussels. ``Bertelsmann has impressive assets in all kinds of media genres and is growing nicely, so an IPO may attract many investors.''
An IPO would inaugurate a new era for Bertelsmann, which owns U.S. publisher Random House, European broadcaster RTL Group SA, and half of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Controlled by the billionaire Mohn family, Bertelsmann has been privately held since it was founded in 1835 as a publisher of hymn books and religious material.
Former CEO Thomas Middelhoff was ousted by the Mohns in July 2002 after spending more than $5.5 billion on acquisitions. The family opposed his plans to sell shares of the company, investors said at the time.
Shares of GBL rose as much as 5.05 euros, or 5.7 percent, to 93 euros and traded at 92.85 euros as of 10:59 a.m. in Brussels, valuing the company at 12.8 billion euros.
Expansion
Under Reinhard Mohn, the company expanded after World War II through book and music clubs and later into magazines, through a stake in publisher Gruner + Jahr.
Bertelsmann in 1998 acquired Random House, whose titles include the hit novel ``The DaVinci Code,'' and the company in 2001 bought majority control of RTL, Europe's largest commercial broadcaster.
The RTL deal, struck under former CEO Middelhoff, led to the possibility of a stock listing. Bertelsmann exchanged 25 percent of its stock for GBL's 30 percent stake in RTL. The deal gave GBL the right to sell its Bertelsmann shares on the stock market after three or four years.
Liz Mohn, who with her family holds the remaining 75 percent of Bertelsmann, said in March last year the company ``wouldn't try to prevent a share sale and wouldn't aim to buy GBL's stake.''
RTL
2006 would be a ``very good year for the IPO'' as the ``advertising market is picking up in Germany and that will help to boost earnings at RTL, Bertelsmann's most important unit,'' Rosenthal said. He raised his rating on GBL shares to ``strong buy'' from ``neutral'' today.
RTL Group is Europe's biggest broadcaster and Bertelsmann's most profitable unit. It has interests in 34 television companies and 30 radio stations in 11 European countries.
RTL was created through the 2000 merger of Bertelsmann- controlled CLT-Ufa broadcasting with the television assets of British media company Pearson Plc and was ``Bertelsmann's first entire division to go public,'' the Bertelsmann Web sites says. Its primary listing is in Luxembourg.
Bertelsmann's RTL television unit ``is pretty successful but it's vulnerable in terms of market valuation because people aren't convinced there's growth in free-to-air television,'' in part due to personal video recorders and their ability to skip commercials, said Theresa Wise, a media analyst at Accenture Ltd. in London.
The Financial Times today reported today that the Mohn family is against an IPO, citing an unidentified person close to the family. Spokespeople for Bertelsmann and GBL couldn't immediately be reached for a comment.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Thiel in Munich at sthiel1@bloomberg.net;
Charles Goldsmith in London at cgoldsmith3@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 27, 2006 05:01 EST
