Adrian Sarbu appointed Chief Executive Officer of CME
HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. ("CME" or the "Company") (Nasdaq/Prague Stock Exchange: CETV) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with MediaPro Management and MediaPro BV, both controlled by Adrian Sarbu, to acquire the MediaPro Entertainment business. MediaPro Entertainment is one of the leading producers and distributors of television fiction and owns one of the largest studio/production facilities in Central and Eastern Europe. In consideration, MediaPro Management and MediaPro BV will receive US$ 10.0 million in cash, 2.2 million shares of CME's Class A Common Stock and a warrant to purchase up to 850,000 shares of CME's Class A Common Stock at a price of US$ 21.75, debt assumption of approximately US$ 35.6 million, and the contribution of CME's 8.7% interest in MediaPro Management and CME's 10% interest in MediaPro BV.
CME also announced that Adrian Sarbu, currently the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of CME.
CME intends to integrate its existing fiction, reality and entertainment television production units with MediaPro Entertainment to create a dedicated content division consisting of production, services and distribution operations across all of CME's territories. CME expects this consolidation to deliver significant synergies over the medium-term, including in cost, quality and availability of local production for the CME stations. As a vertically integrated company CME aims to leverage the MediaPro Entertainment distribution network for the creation of new content related revenue streams.
Ronald Lauder, Non-Executive Chairman and founder of CME, announced: "In the last 20 years Adrian has built MediaPro Entertainment into a Hollywood style production and distribution business, unique in Central and Eastern Europe. This acquisition provides our stations with a proven source of content and allows us to further diversify our revenue streams. Adrian is the most talented executive that I have worked with and I am proud to announce his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the Company. He has been an incredible asset to CME and his insight and experience will continue to be a valuable resource for the Company."
Adrian Sarbu, CEO of CME and MediaPro Entertainment founder, commented: "Content is our key competitive advantage. Consolidation of all our content assets in CME will help us to optimize our overall costs, improve the quality of our products, leverage our local talent resources and create new revenue streams.
