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Business and Financial Review • Dec 8, 2016
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Business and Financial Review
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Corporate | 8 December 2016 12:01
_wige MEDIA AG builds up new sporttotal.tv business, along with its international project business, and sells _wige BROADCAST and _wige SOLUTIONS
DGAP-News: _wige MEDIA AG / Key word(s): Strategic Company Decision/Disposal
2016-12-08 / 12:01
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
_wige MEDIA AG builds up new sporttotal.tv business, along with its international project business, and sells _wige BROADCAST and _wige SOLUTIONS
– _wige MEDIA AG receives cash inflow of EUR 1.6 million
– Burden on broadcasting eased by an average EUR 0.6 million from 2017 onward
– _wige releases capital in order to invest in high-margin growth
Cologne, December 8, 2016. In the future, _wige MEDIA AG intends to grow in the scalable digital business, in the high-margin international project business, as well as in business with live events. Through a partnership with the German Football Association (DFB), the company intends to equip German amateur football clubs with special video technology that enables games to be transmitted live in a high quality and fully automatically using the new “sporttotal.tv” platform. The company will therefore sell the loss-making business with TV production for domestic and international broadcasters, associations and organisers, as well as the low-margin and capital-intensive media technology business. Today _wige MEDIA AG signed the respective agreements. Under these agreements – and as soon as the conditions precedent customary in the market have been fulfilled – _wige BROADCAST gmbh (TV production) will be sold to Wolfgang Reeh and the assets of _wige SOLUTIONS gmbh (media technology) to wige SOLUTIONS GmbH & Co. KG, a company newly founded by Thomas Riedel together with a partner.
Broadcast and media technology concentrated with top providers in the market
The purchase price for the sold operations amounts to EUR 4 million in total, EUR 3.5 million of which for _wige SOLUTIONS gmbh and EUR 0.5 million for _wige BROADCAST gmbh. _wige MEDIA AG is likely to receive EUR 1.6 million in cash from the transaction. At the same time, the workforce of the _wige Group will decline by 115 staff members to around 215. As from 2017, the disposal of the two sets of operations will generate a sustainable positive liquidity effect that averages around EUR 1.8 million a year in investment that is no longer necessary. This will considerably reduce capital requirements. For instance, in the first half of 2017 alone, _wige would have had to have invested EUR 1.1 million in the broadcast segment and media technology. “We can now invest our funds much more efficiently in promising, high margin segments,” stated CEO Peter Lauterbach. _wige MEDIA AG will continue to operate as general contractor in TV production while passing the risk of operational losses from the highly seasonal business to the buyer. “In Thomas Riedel and Wolfgang Reeh, we are in future concentrating complementary competencies for our major customers. _wige MEDIA will remain the central contact for the customers, and Thomas Riedel and Wolfgang Reeh, who have worked successfully in the media business for decades, guarantee first rate operations,” said Lauterbach.
Group restructuring: non-cash earnings effect
In addition, _wige is likely to raise hidden reserves by EUR 0.8 million in the context of restructuring. At the same time, one-off non-cash charges of approx. EUR 3.2 million arise from the disposals. Since only parts of the major order concerning technical equipment for the racing track infrastructure projects in Kuwait can be taken into account in 2016, revenues this year are likely to amount to EUR 63 million and EBT to EUR-6.5 million. “Restructuring the group has allowed us to completely reduce the burdens in our accounts while freeing up the company from low-margin business – a clear break which fully aligns _wige to high-potential growth areas. In 2017, we anticipate consistently positive earnings with steady growth,” Lauterbach emphasized.
About _wige GROUP
As one of the world’s leading marketing and production companies in motor sport as well as in other areas of sport in Germany, _wige GROUP produces the Formula1 races, the DTM German Touring Car Masters, the Handball Champions League, the ADAC Zurich 24-hour Race at the Nürburgring and German Football League games, as well as organising events and content for prestigious companies such as Porsche, Audi, Mercedes/AMG, Red Bull, VW and Deutsche Post AG.
Company contact:
_wige MEDIA AG
Am Coloneum 2
50829 Cologne, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 221_7 88 77_ 0
Fax: +49 (0) 221_7 88 77_ 199
Investor Relations:
BSK Becker+Schreiner Kommunikation GmbH
Tobias M. Weitzel
Phone: +49 (0) 2154_ 81 22 16
E-mail: [email protected]
2016-12-08 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de
| Language: | English |
| Company: | _wige MEDIA AG |
| Am Coloneum 2 | |
| 50829 Köln | |
| Germany | |
| Phone: | +49 (0)221 7 88 77 0 |
| Fax: | +49 (0)221 7 88 77 199 |
| E-mail: | [email protected] |
| Internet: | www.wige.de |
| ISIN: | DE000A1EMG56 |
| WKN: | A1EMG5 |
| Listed: | Regulated Market in Frankfurt (General Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange |
| End of News | DGAP News Service |