Going, Going, Gone

While ProSiebenSAT1 itself and buyers KKR and Permira had yet to officially confirm the deal, the regional state authorities of Bavaria, where the broadcaster is based, issued a statement hailing the sale to KKR and Permira as a "deal of European dimensions."

Regional state premier Edmund Stoiber said in the statement: "Bidders Permira and KKR have put forward an offer that strengthens Munich as a media center."

A combination of ProSiebenSAT1 with Luxembourg-based television group SBS -- which KKR and Permira also recently acquired -- would catapult Munich to one of the top centers in the European media industry, Stoiber said.

Completed deal now a formality

While neither buyer nor vendor were immediately available to confirm the deal, industry sources told AFP that the final sale agreement was now merely a matter of a formality.

Saban had agreed in principle to accept the bid by KKR and Permira and all that was needed now were the final signatures.

The statement issued by the Bavarian regional authorities said that state premier Stoiber "has been informed of the decision first-hand."

Industry experts estimate that the price tag for Saban's 50.5-percent share stake and 88-percent voting stake would be more than three billion euros ($4 billion).

Pipped at the post by KKR and Permira were reportedly Turkish radio and television group Dogan and a consortium comprising Apax and Goldman Sachs.

Haim Saban first tried to sell ProSiebenSAT1 to newspaper publisher Axel Springer at the beginning of this year. But the deal was blocked by competition authorities.

Deal ends uncertainty for ProSieben

For ProSiebenSAT1, which owns the ProSieben, SAT1, Kabel1 and N24 channels, the deal marks the end of a long period of uncertainty.

Following the failure of the Axel Springer deal, a long list of names of possible buyers did the speculation rounds, including TF1 in France, or Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset in Italy, as well as countless investment funds.

There was no doubt that Saban wanted to sell. He had acquired ProSiebenSAT1 in 2003, but only saw the holding as a financial investment.

While KKR and Permira are also financial investors, they are already owners of Luxembourg-based SBS Broadcasting and have indicated that they aimed to be long-term investors in the company which is active in commercial and pay-TV and radio.

ProSiebenSAT1's strong presence in Germany, where it has a market share of 30 percent, will therefore complement SBS, which is present in the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

And for the German broadcaster, the deal could give it the international reach it had hitherto lacked. Germany is certainly one of the biggest TV markets, but growth there is limited in the commercial TV sector.

And last week, ProSiebenSAT1's ambitions to move into pay-TV were blocked by the competition authorities.

It remains to be seen what Axel Springer will now do with its 12-percent stake in ProSiebenSAT1.

Investors appeared uncertain and ProSiebenSAT1 shares were showing a loss of 0.68 euros or 2.87 percent at 23.00 euros in late afternoon trade on the Frankfurt stock exchange.