European television network ProSiebenSat.1, backed by Permira and KKR has received approaches from BC Partners and EQT for its Nordic division. 

According to reports, the deal could be worth €1.4bn and rival network Discovery Communications has also expressed interest. 

KKR and Permira backed ProSiebenSat in late 2006 after the company experienced a turbulent few years. Its parent group Kirch Media fell into receivership in 2002 and ProsiebenSat was then acquired by Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born media tycoon of Saban Capital.

Saban led a consortium of investors comprising Bain Capital, Hellman & Friedman, Thomas H Lee Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Quadrangle Capital Partners and Alpine Equity Partners. They picked up the television company for just €525m in August 2003.

The company was on the block again in 2005, with Axel Springer keen to buy. However, competition authorities stepped in and blocked the takeover. The Federal Cartel Office and KEK, the German the commission for investigating media monopolies, terminated the deal as Springer’s dominance over German media would have been too large.

Eventually, KKR and Permira paid €3bn for the company in 2006, marking what is now the 11th largest European buyout on record. The deal saw Saban take a 17x return on his investment.

Since then, ProSiebenSat has suffered in the economic downturn, which caused advertising revenues to fall sharply. By 2008 the company's debt was nearing €4bn. KKR and Permira have since bought up large chunks of the company's debt pile through their own credit vehicles. However, ProSiebenSat's share price is still significantly lower than the €22.40 at the time of the deal six years ago. 

Read our in-depth analysis of the ProSiebenSat deal, as part of Real Deals' “What happened next” series, which assesses the biggest 50 European buyouts.