Dutch venture capital company Constant Ventures is to finance EM.TV board chairman Werner Klatten's acquisition of shares in the company.

In an agreement signed on Jan 14 with Klatten's company: WKB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Constant Ventures will secure finance for WKB to acquire 36.16m EM.TV shares. On the basis of the current 145.85m shares in the company, this corresponds to 24.8%. The shares will all come from the holding of the former EM.TV board chairman Thomas Haffa.

Klatten said "the financing of the EM.TV shares will be provided by a convertible loan from Constant Ventures. The agreement transfers full control over the EM.TV shares to WKB, which is able to cancel the loan at any time. Constant Ventures has the option of converting the loan in the medium-term into shares in WKB or into the shares of EM.TV held by WKB. The venture capital company is refinancing the transaction in the capital market through institutional investors".

He added that "with the take-over of the share package, a further significant step has been completed towards the reorientation of EM.TV. My personal commitment underlines my conviction that the company will emerge strengthened from the current consolidation process in the media sector".