ProSiebenSat.1’s CEO Rainer Beaujean has asserted that the IPO for its dating business will not be fast tracked, in order to clear wider company debts.
Beaujean was speaking in an interview with Reuters, where he was discussing how hard the Germany media conglomerate had been hit by the pandemic. It’s estimated that total debt could be approximately $2.5 billion by the end of 2020, having peaked at almost $3 billion.
ProSieben completed its acquisition of The Meet Group at the beginning of September. The new subsidiary was merged with existing dating properties, including Parship and eharmony, to form ParshipMeet Group.
It is initially aiming for an IPO in 2022, but there were rumours that this date might be pushed forward to help re-balance the books.
However, Beaujean has brought an end to that speculation saying that they need more time to assess ParshipMeet Group’s finances. He told Reauters: “2022 is the goal because we need a full year (of results) as a comparison. We will definitely not go before Dec. 31, 2021.”
Private equity firm General Atlantic was a co-investor but is expected to exit following the completion of the IPO.
Tim Schiffers, CEO of ParshipMeet Group, and Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group, appeared on The GDI Podcast last month to talk more about the deal and how the company plans to move forward in the future.
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