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Telefónica buys El País pay-TV stake
26 November 2009
Telefónica has bought a stake in a pay TV operation, Digital+, from the publisher of Spanish newspaper El País, for €470 million, including writing off €230 million of debt
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Telefónica
Prisa
TV
Sogecable
El País
Spain
Portugal
Comment: There’s an almost irrestible temptation for telecoms operators to spend money on TV and other content providers. It’s exciting, it’s glamorous and it’s fun. But does it get them business? There’s little evidence of that.
Telefónica is acquiring a 21% stake in the pay TV division of Spanish media company, Promotora de Informaciones (Prisa). The Madrid-based telecoms company will pay €240 million in cash for the TV platform, Digital+.
The deal, which is valued at €470 million, includes writing off €230 million of debt, owed to Telefónica by Prisa. The deal values the entire satellite TV platform at €2.35 billion.
Prisa, which publishes the Spanish newspaper El País and is a shareholder in the French newspaper Le Monde, is the world’s biggest education, information and entertainment operation in Spanish and Portuguese. It has operations in 22 countries, reaching more than 50 million users.
Telefónica sold its 17% stake in Sogecable, which included Digital+ and TV channel Cuatro, to Prisa for €650 million in 2008. The two companies have agreed to jointly develop projects in audiovisual and related services in Spain.
Prisa has been selling minority stakes in its subsidiaries to raise funds in order to repay nearly €5 billion of debt. It has divested its minority stakes in a Portuguese division, Grupo Media Capital, along with its publishing company, Santillana. GTB