ProSiebenSat.1 Group intensifies Games activities/Has Stake in U.S. Game Maker ZeniMax
Munich, October 30, 2007. The ProSiebenSat.1 Group is expanding its activities in the games sector. The TV corporation will begin discussions with U.S. game producer ZeniMax, in which it holds a minority stake, about a future cooperation. ZeniMax develops and sells games for the PC, game consoles and mobile devices. Furthermore, ProSiebenSat.1 Group will launch www.sevengames.com, the international version of its German game platform this December.
ZeniMax has completed a capital increase of US-Dollars 300 m on October 24, 2007. Following the completion of the capital increase, the game maker, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, is valued at more than USD 1.2 billion. ProSiebenSat.1 has not participated in the capital increase. Post completion of the capital increase ProSiebenSat.1 holds around 9 percent in ZeniMax through its subsidiary SBS Broadcasting B.V.
Said Guillaume de Posch, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG: ZeniMax is a special company among game makers. ZeniMax combines game developers, artists, programmers and managers from a wide variety of fields to create highly evolved interactive entertainment. We want to develop our online games activities with our portal www.sevengames.com. In this context, we will look for a cooperation with ZeniMax.
Said Robert A. Altman, CEO of ZeniMax: We believe there is great strategic value in forming partnerships with leading traditional media companies. We are delighted to have the support of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, a company we have long respected and admired. ZeniMax Media is opening up its European offices this year to pursue publishing opportunities there and we look forward to developing closer working relationships with ProSiebenSat.1.
ZeniMax is one of the most respected game makers in the United States. The companys most successful games include the famous Elder Scrolls series, developed by subsidiary Bethesda Softworks, as well as Fallout, Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean. Subsidiary Vir2L Studies is a multi-award-winning interactive design division that develops non-platform-dependent games for cell phones and hand-held devices. The Board of Directors includes ZeniMax CEO Robert A. Altman, Jerry Bruckheimer, Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS, and Harry Sloan, Chairman & CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
About ProSiebenSat.1
With 24 free TV stations, 24 pay TV channels and 22 radio networks in 13 European countries, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group is one of the largest and most successful pan-European media corporations. Free TV, financed through advertising, is the Groups core business. Its station brands Sat.1, ProSieben, kabel eins and N24 make it the largest commercial free TV corporation in Germany. In the Netherlands the Group owns TV stations Veronica, Net 5 and SBS 6, in Belgium VT 4 and Vijf TV, in Sweden Kanal 5 and Kanal 9, in Norway TV Norge and FEM, in Denmark Kanal 4, Kanal 5 and SBS Net, in Hungary TV2, in Romania Prima TV and Kiss TV. C More/Canal+ has given ProSiebenSat.1 the market lead for premium pay TV in Northern Europe. Additionally, with 9Live, the Group owns the leading provider of call TV. maxdome, Germanys largest video-on-demand platform, and interests in innovative Internet services like MyVideo and lokalisten are among the activities with which the Group has increasingly been diversifying its sources of revenue. In June 2007, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group acquired the SBS Broadcasting Group, and it now has some 6,000 employees across Europe. The Company, which is listed in the MDAX, is headquartered in the Munich.