S&P: Unity Media unchanged

Standard & Poor's said its ratings and outlook on Unity Media GmbH (B/positive) are unaffected following the decision of the German Cartel Office to accept a revised set of agreements between Unity and Premiere AG.

According to the agency, Unity has announced that it has sublicensed the German Bundesliga football broadcasting rights, which are held by its subsidiary arena Sport Rechte und Marketing GmbH, until their expiry in 2009 to Premiere for a greater consideration than envisaged under the original agreement in February.

It also retains its 16.7% shareholder stake in Premiere and has signed a six-year carriage agreement starting Jan. 1, 2008, that will enable Premiere to distribute its content to Unity's cable customers for a fixed annual fee, the agency noted, adding that although it acknowledges the positive aspects of the revised deal, which supports the ratings on Unity, positive rating actions would require an improvement in Unity's credit measures through higher EBITDA and meaningful free cash flow generation at Unity Media Cable.

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