BSkyB Looks to Sell Stake Back to Kirch

Debt-laden German media giant Kirch Group faced more pressure after Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB said it wanted to sell its stake in the company’s money-losing pay-TV operation back to Kirch.

British satellite broadcaster BSkyB said it didn’t know whether Kirch had the money to pay.

BSkyB announced a big fiscal first-half loss after writing off the value of its investment in the Kirch unit. Munich-based Kirch has run up debts of about $4.3 billion, weighed down by mounting losses at its Premiere pay-TV unit and a slump in advertising revenue after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Without an injection of new funds, analysts say Kirch could face bankruptcy if BSkyB exercises an option to sell back the 22% stake in October for $1.5 billion. “That could be the final piece of the puzzle that brings Kirch to the end,” said Oliver Rupprecht, a media analyst at M.M. Warburg.