ProSiebenSat.1 triggers strategic review, explores Red Arrow sale

Deep State

ProSiebenSat.1 has triggered a strategic review that could see the business offload Red Arrow Studios, according to German reports.

According to DWDL.de, the German media group has assigned Morgan Stanley to handle a sale, and potential investors have until 13 September to express their interest in the business, which houses the likes of Deep State producer Endor Productions, The Circus firm Left/Right and Old People’s Home For Four-Year-Olds’ CPL Productions.

In the event of a sale, ProSiebenSat.1 will reportedly look to keep Germany’s Next Top Model prodco Redseven Entertainment as well as multichannel network Studio71, which spans six territories and whose backers include France’s TF1 Group and Spain’s Mediaset, within its portfolio.

There has been ongoing speculation for more than a year that ProSiebenSat.1 was looking to sell Red Arrow, and according to DWDL, it now seeking “full divestiture” of the business, save for Redseven and Studio71.

A spokesperson for ProSiebenSat.1 tells TBI that the business is officially undergoing a “strategic review” of Red Arrow Studios, and that it is evaluating a number of scenarios that could see it looking for partners – including a network partner – or a complete sale.

TBI understands that ProSiebenSat.1 keeping Redseven within its portfolio informs an increasingly domestic-facing strategy and a desire to ramp up local content.

A sale would almost certainly impact distribution arm Red Arrow Studios International, which relies on a pipeline of content from the business’s 20 production companies, including 11 in the US, such as 44 Blue Productions, Kinetic Content and Dorsey Pictures. Its other businesses are in Denmark, Israel and the UK.

Renewed sales discussions follow a number of exec changes at the top in the past year, including the departures of chairman and CEO Jan David Frouman and chief creative officer Michael Schmidt.

Earlier this year, former Sky and Current TV executive James Baker took over as president of the business, while Red Arrow Studios International president Henrik Pabst took on a newly created senior executive position within ProSiebenSat.1’s entertainment division.