Constantin Film's supervisory board has given its management board headed by Fred Kogel the green light to explore 'alternative measures' to counter a takeover bid by Swiss media concern Highlight Communications.

At a specially convened meeting of the supervisory board at the weekend, the management board was also "authorised to exercise its buyback right of company shares", according to a statement.

At the same time, the door was left open for the possibility of an amicable settlement being reached between the two parties since Constantin also announced that it would continue holding talks with Highlight.

In fact, Highlight's CFO Marco Syfrig stressed in an interview with Reuters news agency at the end of last week that they were looking for a "friendly solution" to the issue.

Speculation earlier in the week suggested that Constantin's management might seek to bring a financial investor onboard via a capital increase which would then reduce Highlight's stake to around 30% from its present 41.4%

In addition, another scenario being mooted could see Eichinger agreeing to a merger with Highlight on the understanding that the Munich company's strategic independence be preserved.