Kofler tipped as possible investor in Watchever as founders quit

Georg Kofler

German media executive Georg Kofler, the former CEO of Premiere, which later became Sky Deutschland, has been tipped as a possible buyer for Vivendi-owned German OTT subscription VoD provider Watchever by news magazine Der Spiegel.

According to the magazine, Kofler has offered to invest in Watchever, but on condition that Vivendi continue to bear the company’s losses and supplies content to the service.

Watchever’s founders, Stefan Schulz and Sabine Anger, are to leave the company at the end of this month. Der Spiegel has reported that the pair are also in the running to acquire Watchever and are in talks with potential investors.

Vivendi has reportedly struggled to attract interested buyers for the operation. Most recently, Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe has ruled out any acquisition of Watchever by his group, saying his company is “not interested”.

Watchever has named Vivendi executive Karim Ayari as its new managing director following the departure of Schulz and Anger.

Vivendi posted an exceptional provision of €48 million in its first half earnings report related to its “transformation plan” for Watchever.  According to Der Spiegel, the company has about 350,000 customers for its €8.99 a month SVoD service.