KirchMedia bids whittled down

NEWS Two confirmed consortia have made it through to the final round in the bid process for KirchMedia, the bankrupt arm of Germany's Kirch media empire. The companies are Commerzbank together with Sony unit Columbia Tristar, and French media company TF1 along with US investor Haim Saban. However, there remains some confusion as to whether an offer on the table from a consortium including publishers Axel Springer and Heinrich Bauer, both also of Germany, will make it through to the final stage. The WSJ Europe this morning quotes some bankers saying the bid has been rejected and another maintaining the bid is still on the table. KirchMedia owns a majority stake in ProSiebenSat.1 Media, the country's largest private broadcaster, football's 2006 World Cup TV rights and Europe's largest film library. A decision on the short-list is expected by the end of today.