Univision Files For IPO & Extends Televisa Deal
Univision, the biggest Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S., has filed for an IPO of Class A Common Stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The IPO has been valued at an initial $100 million, although this figure — used for calculating fees — is likely to rise. The filing is the first step toward the actual initial public offering later this year.
The company also said it had extended a broadcasting agreement with Televisa until at least 2030. Televisa will hold just under a quarter of the voting rights of Univision’s common stock under the new agreement. Univision has an exclusive deal for most of Televisa’s programming for broadcast within the U.S.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank Securities are among the underwriters to the IPO, Univision said in its filing.
“By taking these steps and our pursuit of other related initiatives, Univision is in a stronger competitive position going forward,” said Univision chief exec Randy Falco. “Televisa is the best Spanish-language content producer in the world, and we are pleased to continue to have its support as we enter the next exciting chapter of Univision’s history.”
“We are excited to enter into a new phase in the relationship with Univision, the leading media company serving Hispanic America. Univision today is one of the most successful and diversified media organizations globally thanks to the hard work and dedication of Randy Falco and his team,” said Televisa exec vp Alfonso de Angoitia. “With these transactions we strengthen our relationship further and reiterate our full commitment to Univision and its future.”
It’s been an eventful week for the increasingly influential network, which finds itself at loggerheads with Donald Trump. The GOP presidential candidate hit Univision with a $500 million lawsuit over the network’s decision to ending their plans on June 25 to show the Miss USA pageant, which was also dumped by NBC. Univision said that the severing of ties was because of remarks Trump made in May about “rapists” immigrants flooding into America. Trump’s lawsuit demanded “an order awarding damages in favor of Mr. Trump for defamation against Defendants, jointly and severally, in an amount to be determined at trial, but believed to be in excess of $500 million, together with interest.”
Univision responded with their own statement: “We just reviewed Mr. Trump’s complaint for the first time, and it is both factually false and legally ridiculous,” said the network in response. “We will not only vigorously defend the case, but will continue to fight against Mr. Trump’s ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made on June 16th about Mexican immigrants. Our decision to end our business relationship with Mr. Trump was influenced solely by our responsibility to speak up for the community we serve.”
This morning, cable channel Reelz acquired exclusive rights to the Miss USA pageant, to air at 8 PM on July 12.
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