In its 2025 annual report, the investment group PPF confirmed that the media segment, alongside telecommunications and financial services, forms one of the key strategic pillars of its business. The group, led by the Kellner family and two CEOs, is betting on the high profitability of media, which has shown extraordinary resilience to economic cycles in the past period. According to shareholders, this stability is crucial for financing transformation in other parts of the holding.
The CME group, which operates television networks in six Central and Eastern European countries, remains a key asset in this area. The annual report emphasizes that the strategy focused on local content and digital transformation has proven correct. In the past year, PPF has particularly benefited from synergies between media content and its telecommunications infrastructure, which allows the group to more effectively reach end customers.
Expansion and integration in the region
In the media and telecommunications sphere, 2025 was not only about organic growth but also about significant acquisitions that strengthen media content distribution channels. The group solidified its position in Southeast Europe and Slovakia through strategic takeovers that directly impact the reach of its services.
Completion of the acquisition of Serbian operator SBB, giving PPF a dominant position in the local paid TV and internet market.
Acquisition of Slovak UPC, which complements the existing O2 service portfolio and creates a stronger platform for CME content distribution.
Continued investment in the Voyo digital platform, which forms the backbone of the group's paid video content.
Utilization of synergies with CETIN's technological background and O2 Czech Republic for content delivery innovations.
The group's management states in the document that PPF's high qualification in building companies and increasing their value is reflected precisely in finding overlaps between seemingly unrelated fields. An example is the connection of the media world with e-commerce activities, such as Heureka Group or FAST Group, where the group is testing new formats of digital advertising and customer engagement.
Stability in the face of technological pressure
Despite turbulence in the advertising market and growing pressure from global streaming platforms, PPF evaluates its media reach as highly profitable. The group has focused on divesting assets where it could not significantly influence strategy, and conversely has financially strengthened where it holds full control over content and its distribution. It is precisely this control over the entire chain — from program production to optical cables in the ground — that distinguishes PPF from purely media houses.
“I consider our exceptional ability to also be that we can find synergies across our companies, thereby creating entirely new values for our customers,” said Renáta Kellnerová, majority shareholder of PPF.
The annual report also reflects 35 years of the group's existence and the symbolic return of its headquarters from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic, which was completed in spring 2026. For the media division, this means stability in the environment of its own market, where PPF, through companies such as O2 arena and O2 universum, connects the media world with entertainment and the hospitality segment. It is this ecosystem that should ensure the group's long-term competitiveness even in the era of emerging artificial intelligence and changing viewing habits.