Endemol, a leading company in the entertainment production owned by Mediaset, announced that it has reached, with a large majority (more than two thirds) of the creditors the general agreement on the restructuring of its 2 billion euro debts, agreement which will see the conversion of credits into capital with the entry of banks and funds into the shareholding structure.
The Dutch production house, which was taken over in 2007 by Goldman Sachs, Mediaset and Cyrte (current controlling shareholders) for 2,6 billion, combined thanks to loans for 2,2 billion obtained from various banks, failed, due to the sharp decline in profits, to comply with the covenants , being forced from the size of the debt to its conversion into shares. One of the main consequence of this operation is the transfer of control of the company to the new lenders by the old majority shareholders, including, precisely, Mediaset, whose stake will drop from today's 33% to a stake well below 10%.
The loss of control over Endemol would be just the tip of the iceberg of the many problems that Mediaset is facing these days (and could even lead, according to some, to saying goodbye to Big Brother), among beauty contest and analysts' forecasts on the low probability of paying dividends of €0,10 per share in 2012, even if on the stock exchange title rose by 0,56% to 2,148 euros.
