Mexican president expresses support for Televisa-Univision merger
Mexico City, Apr 14 (EFE).- Mexico’s president on Wednesday hailed a new deal that will see Grupo Televisa merge its media, content and production assets with Univision Communications.
“I expressed my satisfaction at their having achieved such an important merger for the Hispanic community. I just asked them to give their word that with this new media company migrants will never be mistreated,” Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, popularly known as AMLO, said at a press conference after being informed of the tie-up by key people from both companies.
In a press release Tuesday, Miami-based Univision said it is buying Mexico City-based Grupo Televisa’s television content assets for $4.8 billion ($3 billion in cash, $1.5 billion in Univision equity and $300 million from other sources), creating a new company that is expected to boast the largest content library in the Spanish-speaking world.
Lopez Obrador said Wednesday that the new company will have a potential audience of 600 million people, including the estimated 164 million Mexicans who live in Mexico and the US.
“Investment by Mexicans predominates in this company, and that’s why we look favorably at this merger,” said Lopez Obrador, who added that Televisa will be the largest shareholder in the new company with a 46 percent stake.
The financial backers of the new company include Google and Softbank.
AMLO noted that Televisa-Univision’s news content production for Mexico will be outsourced from a company owned by the Azcarraga family, thus ensuring that it “will be led by Mexicans.”
The president urged the new company not to tolerate xenophobia or discrimination and to respect the dignity of Mexicans so that no further “anti-Mexican campaigns” will be seen in the media.
“I hope all goes very well for this new media company,” he added.
The transaction, which is expected to close in 2021, still requires the approval of Televisa’s shareholders and of regulators in the US and Mexico, the Univision press release said. EFE
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