German media group Kirch inched closer to an insolvency filing after talks in Munich and Los Angeles between creditors and investors failed to agree a rescue, sources said today.
However, it was not clear whether media mogul Mr Leo Kirch, who spent almost 50 years building an empire that controls Germany's biggest commercial broadcaster and extensive movie and sports rights, would seek insolvency for KirchMedia today or hold off until early next week.
Banking sources said a meeting in Munich today between minority KirchMedia shareholders including Mr Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Mediaset, the broadcaster controlled by the family of Italian Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi, was unlikely to turn things around.
"The banks are not interested in talking any more," one source said.
Mediaset Finance Director Mr Marco Giordani was taking part in the Munich talks, but banking sources dismissed the discussions as posturing.
But a banking source said it was Mr Kirch - hoping for an 11th hour rescue - who was hesitating. "At some point he will be guilty of insolvency delay but I can't say if that's a matter of hours or days," the source said.