- Kirch Group
KirchGruppe (KirchGroup) was a German media group founded by
Leo Kirch . The group collapsed in 2002 largely due to the debts associated with the purchase of sports rights for its channels and the launch of pay-TV services.The holding company for the group was Taurus Holding which had three major subsidiaries, KirchMedia, Kirch PayTV and KirchBeteiligung. KirchMedia declared itself insolvent on
8 April 2002, followed by KirchPayTV on8 May 2002 and finally KirchBeteiligung on12 June 2002 along with Taurus Holding.KirchMedia
KirchMedia's main assets were KirchSport, which held the TV rights to the World Cup and other sports; 52.5% of
ProSiebenSat.1 Media , an owner of major satellite channels; the DSF sports channel; TaurusProduktion, a film and TV production group; and TaurusLizenz, owner of fiction and media rights.KirchMedia was declared insolvent on
8 April 2002.cite news |title=Kirch declares itself insolvent |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1916490.stm |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=2002-04-08|accessdate=2007-10-30]KirchPayTV
KirchPayTV was majority owned by Taurus Holding, however BSkyB held 22% along with
Lehman Brothers (2.4%) and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed (3.12%). The company's main asset was the Premiere pay-TV network.KirchPayTV filed for bankruptcy on
8 May 2002. [cite news |title=KirchPayTV goes bust |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1974880.stm |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=2002-05-08|accessdate=2007-10-30 ]KirchBeteiligung
KirchBeteiligung's main assets were its majority share of Formula One's commercial rights (through
Speed Investments ) and its 40.33% stake inAxel Springer AG .cite news|title=Changing fortunes |work=Daily Telegraph|publisher= |date=2002-06-13 |accessdate=2007-10-30]KirchBeteiligung filed for insolvency on
12 June 2002, along with the Taurus Holding parent company of the Kirch Group.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
