Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 25, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
According to information from Kontakter, a contract with Austrian media manager Alexander von Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg collapsed on Thursday night. Many observers regard publisher Burda’s withdrawal from the bidding race as decisive. Former Kirch manager Trauttmansdorff and his partner, former RTL II head Josef Andorfer, wanted to bring the magazine publisher (Focus, Bunte)on board for their takeover plan. But the price was apparently too high for Burda, sources close to the publisher say. The US group NBC Universal is said to have demanded 12.5 million euros for its channel. Burda, by contrast, wanted to pay only a sum in the single-digit millions. It is unclear whether Trauttmansdorff, who already operates several special-interest channels such as Planet and Just Music, will continue to pursue a takeover of Das Vierte. People familiar with the process now assess the prospects of success as rather low.
