Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai Capital has concluded its deal to acquire a majority stake in Spanish media group Imagina, parent company of the Mediapro agency.
The deal was ratified after the necessary regulatory approvals were secured. The deal was first announced in February, with Orient Hontai acquiring the shares of private equity firm Torreal (22.5 per cent), Mexican media group Televisa (19 per cent) and Mediavideo (12 per cent), reaching a total interest of 53.5 per cent. The transaction gives Imagina an enterprise value of €1.9bn ($2.24bn).
All remaining shareholders, British advertising and PR group WPP (22.5 per cent) and two of Imagina’s founding members, Tatxo Benet (12 per cent) and Jaume Roures (12 per cent), maintain their stakes in Imagina.
The agreement includes the preservation of the existing shareholders’ agreement, by which the management of the group will not undergo any change and will remain in the hands of Roures and Benet.
Imagina produces, totally or partially, 13 national sports leagues and is a regular service provider for competitions such as football’s Uefa Champions League and Europa League. At present, more than 300 of the group’s staff are deployed at the Fifa World Cup in Russia and Imagina has been chosen as host broadcaster for the next edition of multi-sport event the Pan American Games, which takes place next year in Lima, Peru.
On Monday, LaLiga, the organising body of the top two divisions of Spanish club football, sold four of its next set of domestic and international rights packages to telco Telefónica and Mediapro. LaLiga announced the partial sale of eight packages for the three seasons spanning 2019-20 to 2021-22.
Mediapro acquired domestic packages two and seven. Lot two is for free-to-air and exclusive highlights of the competitions. Lot seven comprises exclusive rights to all LaLiga and Segunda División matches for broadcasts solely in public establishments. Mediapro has also secured non-exclusive pay-television rights to LaLiga playoff matches, as well as non-exclusive highlights of all LaLiga and Segunda División matches.
LaLiga also disclosed that a meeting on Thursday saw it extend its partnership with Mediapro for the sale of international rights. The new five-season deal, spanning 2019-20 to 2023-24, will guarantee LaLiga €4.485bn in revenue, a figure that the organisation claims is 30 per cent more than in the previous three-season period.
Commenting on the closing of the Orient Hontai deal, Imagina said in a statement: “The sale of a significant stake in Imagina generated significant interest in international markets, highlighting Imagina's solid position and growth potential, as well as the market's confidence in the group's business model and strategy.
“It will not only enable Imagina to introduce advanced audiovisual production technology to China, but also opens new perspectives for cooperation between China, Spain and Latin-America in fields like broadcasting technology, content production, cultural and sporting exchanges, etc.”