Freenet buys remaining waipu.tv shares
The German telecoms and media group initially pays €76 million for the final approximately 25% of Exaring.
Translated from Dutch by AI
Freenet has bought the remaining minority stake in Exaring, the company behind waipu.tv. The German group now owns the IPTV service outright, bringing an earlier consideration of an Exaring flotation to an end.
Freenet announced the transaction on Tuesday 13 October. According to its announcement, the company is buying approximately 25% of the shares from minority shareholders. The initial purchase price is approximately €76 million, based on an enterprise value of around €300 million.
The agreement also includes performance-related payments of up to €50 million. These additional amounts are linked to future business results. Freenet is financing the acquisition entirely from available liquid funds and says this will not change its existing dividend outlook.
Waipu.tv is a German IPTV service: television channels are delivered via the internet, with live viewing, recording and catch-up functions. Exaring operates the service. Freenet was already the majority shareholder and, through the transaction, gains full control over strategy, cash flows and investment.
Freenet describes waipu.tv as a central growth pillar alongside mobile internet. The company says the service has approximately 2 million customers and a 20% to 25% share of the German IPTV market. These customer and market figures come from Freenet itself and have not been independently broken down in the independent reporting consulted.
Full ownership makes decision-making simpler. It also puts a possible stock-market listing of Exaring off the table; the option had previously been explored by minority shareholders. For the market, this means waipu.tv will remain within Freenet and will not need to raise capital as a separate listed vehicle.
For broadcasters and advertisers, the further development of addressable and programmatic television is particularly relevant. Freenet has previously positioned waipu.tv as a platform for targeted advertising alongside subscriptions. The acquisition is not accompanied by new tariffs, channel packages or technical changes for subscribers; such consequences therefore remain uncertain.
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The acquisition and the main financial terms appear in the company announcement and have been independently confirmed. Company claims about customers and market share are labelled as such.
- Confirmed Freenet is buying approximately 25% of Exaring and will then own waipu.tv outright. — Freenet and t-online report the same share transfer.
- Confirmed The initial purchase price is approximately €76 million at a valuation of around €300 million. — These amounts appear in the official announcement and in Telecom Handel.
- Confirmed Additional payments could reach €50 million. — Freenet refers to performance-related payments of up to €50 million.
- Confirmed A possible flotation of Exaring will not be pursued further. — This is reported by Freenet and t-online.
Editor’s note
Ownership, purchase price and earn-out are well confirmed. The customer and market shares are company claims; consequences for consumers are not yet known.Sources
- Freenet AG übernimmt waipu.tv vollständig — freenet AG
- Freenet übernimmt Fernsehdienst waipu.tv komplett — t-online
- Freenet übernimmt waipu.tv komplett — Telecom Handel