Tim Rhoenisch new CEO of Commerce & Ventures

Tim Rhoenisch has been appointed as the new CEO of the Commerce & Ventures segment of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE with effect from 1 July. He assumes this position in addition to his role as CFO, which he has held since May 2022. The previous CEO Friedrich Thoma is leaving the company by mutual agreement. Rhoenisch joined the company in 2020 as Managing Director and CFO of the online comparison portal Verivox, which belongs to ProSiebenSat.1. Prior to that, he held management positions at pharmaceutical packaging specialist Gerresheimer, among others.

Bert Habets, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE: "Under the joint leadership of Friedrich Thoma and Tim Rhoenisch, our digital investment business has developed very well. Especially after the challenging corona period, they have strongly positioned the portfolio and set the investments on a profitable growth path. On behalf of ProSiebenSat.1 and our partner General Atlantic, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Friedrich Thoma for his services to the Commerce & Ventures segment. His many years of leadership of the M&A department and the numerous successfully completed transactions were also extremely valuable for the focusing and realignment of the Group. We wish him all the best for the future. At the same time, we are very much looking forward to working more closely with Tim Rhoenisch. With his expertise and leadership skills, he will continue to drive the successful development of the segment."

Revenue in the Commerce & Ventures segment increased significantly by 20 per cent to EUR 206 million in the first quarter of 2024 (previous year: EUR 172 million). In addition, adjusted EBITDA more than quadrupled from EUR 4 million to EUR 17 million. The most important growth drivers were once again the Beauty & Lifestyle business with flaconi and the online comparison portal Verivox. Both companies recorded double-digit revenue growth.

In the Commerce & Ventures segment, ProSiebenSat.1 has bundled its investments in digital commerce companies with consumer-oriented business models. These include the majority shareholdings under the NuCom Group umbrella, such as Verivox, flaconi and the car hire comparison portal FLOYT. General Atlantic holds a 28.41 per cent stake in the NuCom Group as a financial investor. The Commerce & Ventures segment also includes the investment companies SevenVentures, SevenAccelerator and SevenGrowth, which offer flexible investment models consisting of minority shareholdings and media co-operations.

As part of its strategy of focusing on the Entertainment segment, ProSiebenSat.1 plans to sell individual investments in the digital business to maximize value. This relates to the investments in Verivox and flaconi in particular. Subject to the market environment, these are to be sold over the next 12 to 18 months, in order to use the proceeds to reduce ProSiebenSat.1 Group's debt and strengthen the Entertainment segment.