PPF Signs Agreement to Acquire CME

In connection with the transaction, among other things:

• CME will convene an extraordinary meeting of shareholders for approval of the proposed merger;
• The European Commission and certain national regulators will be asked to approve of the transaction;
• The parties expect that the entire approval process will take several months.

Petr Kellner, the majority shareholder of PPF, commented on the transaction:
“The acquisition of CME with its media assets in five European countries will complement and further strengthen our telecommunications operations in Central and Eastern Europe. We want to leverage the natural synergies between the creation of content and its distribution with the objective of further developing our telecommunications and media businesses. CME is a healthy and well-run organization and we do not intend to make any significant changes to its operations.”

CME is active in five European countries and is one of the leading media and entertainment companies in Central and Eastern Europe. It broadcasts over 30 TV channels, both over-the-air and paid formats, to over 45 million viewers. In recent years there has been a trend towards the integration of content creation and distribution, both in Europe and the United States.

BNP Paribas and Société Générale acted as Structuring Advisors to PPF on the acquisition facilities. The EUR 1.150 billion facilities have been fully underwritten by BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Société Générale and UniCredit.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc is serving as sole financial advisor and White & Case LLP is serving as legal advisor to PPF.