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Univision confirms the sale of the chain

The deal is expected to be completed in the course of next week.

Photo:
ROBYN BECK / AFP / Getty Images

Through a statement, this morning of Tuesday, February 25, Univision confirmed what we had anticipated yesterday that would happen: the officialization of the sale of the majority shares of the chain to Searchlight Capital Partners and ForgeLight and Wade Davis, an experienced media executive, will assume the executive direction of Univision once the operation is closed.

This consortium bought 64% of the shares and Televisa will keep the remaining 36%, at least for the next 7 and a half years that remain of the contract and this is confirmed in the statement.

“Televisa’s decision to maintain its partnership and participation in Univision clearly reflects our deep confidence in Searchlight and Wade’s leadership, in addition to the positive expectations we continue to have for Univision as a long-term strategic investment. Univision is an exceptional media company that will now be even better positioned to continue its path to innovation and growth. We believe that this operation shows a firm vote of confidence of the new Univision owners in the vision and creativity of Televisa, and in its position as an unquestionable leader in the production of high quality content in Spanish aimed at an audience that constitutes a demographic segment dynamic and growing ”said Bernardo Gómez and Alfonso de Angoitia, Executive Co-Presidents of Televisa.

For his part, Wade Davis, former director of Viacom and who will be the new executive director of Univision said:

“I am proud to partner with Searchlight and Televisa to lead Univision during such an exciting time in its history. The leadership of Univision and its connection with one of the most important audiences in the United States today creates a fabulous platform to drive innovation, produce content that defines the market and create an even deeper relationship with its audience.

Vince and the entire Univision team have done an outstanding job to reorient the company in the last 18 months, which further strengthened the company’s position as a leader in the Spanish media market and created this excellent opportunity for the future.

It is an honor for me to partner with Televisa and Searchlight to help direct Univision towards this next phase. Televisa has a common history with Univision that goes back many years and a deep strategic relationship today. The context, analysis and strategic content that Televisa brings to Univision have been key to the success of the company.

I have worked with Searchlight as a partner, board member and friend since the team founded the firm. They are among the most intelligent and value-added investors in our sector, and for me there is no one better than them as partners for this operation. This group of owners can support the excellent team at Univision to generate even more value for the benefit of their advertisers and, most importantly, their audience. ”.

Although the statement explains that the details of the sale will not be given, yesterday we told you what would be part of the agreement of this transition that could last several months until it becomes effective:

The first would be an injection of 800 million dollars, which would serve to solve the economic crisis that would be going through, capitalize and invest in programming, infrastructure or technology, for example.

The second step would be to take over the huge debt that Univision would have of 7.5 million dollars, and then finish closing the final compare number.

Who is Wade Davis?

Davis has extensive experience in the media and technology sector. He was an investment banker, investor, entrepreneur and senior operations executive for almost 30 years. Davis was recently chief financial officer of Viacom.

Who are the companies that acquire the shares?

Searchlight Capital Partners It is a global private investment firm with offices in New York, London and Toronto. Searchlight is dedicated to investing in companies where its capital and long-term strategic support accelerate the generation of value for the benefit of all stakeholders.

ForgeLight It was founded in 2019 by Wade Davis and is an operating and investment company, dedicated to the media and consumer technology sectors. ForgeLight operates directly or provides special operational support to its companies and is backed by some of the largest financial institutions in the world.

Univision Communications includes the Univision, UniMas and Univision Deportes chains. In addition, the company also owns more than 50 radio stations and about 60 television stations, including KMEX-TV Channel 34 in Los Angeles.

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