Word: kirch
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...Investments - a consortium of Bayerische Landesbank, JPMorgan and Lehman Brothers - control over Formula One Holdings (FOH), one of the companies that runs the multibillion-dollar F1 business. Why the ruling? The banks have held a 75% stake in SLEC Holdings, a firm that controls FOH, since 2002, when the Kirch media empire, the previous stakeholder, collapsed. And the banks may now seek a greater say at two other Ecclestone firms. Could he be overtaken? "Bernie will solve this problem with money," predicts Peter Windsor of Britain 's F1 Racing...
...analysts' opinions so that "you can't put pressure on them to say one thing or another." That's a tough line to sell at the moment. Suing All The Way To The Bank Talk about kicking a bank when it's down. Last week, media tycoon Leo Kirch filed suit in New York City against the Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank, Germany 's largest private bank, and U.S. firm Liberty Media, claiming they allegedly conspired to destroy his media empire. Kirch won a similar case in a Munich court, which said the bank must pay damages to Kirch. If that...
...Kirch executives, however, Saban acted as if he were running the place even before he bought it. When he summoned the bosses of Kirch's TV networks for interviews, he would occasionally address one of his lieutenants in Hebrew, assuming no one else would understand. He was startled when one Kirch honcho shot back, "I know what you're saying." (This account, confirmed by three sources close to the talks, was denied by a spokeswoman for Saban...
With $1 billion in cash, Saban could get the deal done fast. Other potential suitors, including Murdoch and Italian magnate Silvio Berlusconi, were hobbled by concerns that they might use Kirch's networks to forward their political views. German media giant Bertelsmann didn't bid because of antitrust problems. The only other serious bidder, a German publisher, didn't have Saban's TV experience and faced regulatory pressures. By late February, Saban's mostly cash offer was a virtual lock...
Saban's German TV networks eked out a $57 million profit in 2002 amid a stagnant global ad market. But revenue has recovered somewhat in recent months, and Saban sees great potential in Kirch's licensing business, which was untended during the bankruptcy proceedings. The film library "has tremendous value," says a top Saban aide. If the next global kids' hit is hidden there, you can bet Saban will spot it. --With reporting by William Boston/Berlin