NEW YORK and MEXICO CITY: Grupo Televisa today announced the completion of its investment in Univision, as well as the expanded licensing agreement between the two. Grupo Televisa said it would invest $1.2 billion in the U.S.-based Hispanic broadcast company last October. Univision was taken private four years earlier in a $13.7 billion leveraged buyout. It had $8.8 billion in secured debt due in 2014 at the time of Televisa’s announcement.
“As a result of the successful refinancing of the majority of Univision’s debt, upon completion of the Televisa investment and application of the net proceeds to repay a portion of the Univision 2015 senior notes, the term of the [programming license agreement] will be extended to at least 2025 or seven and one-half years after Televisa has sold most of its initial investment in Univision,” the companies said in a joint statement.
The programming license agreement covers Univision’s right to distribute Televisa programming in the United States and multiple platforms. It also allows Televisa to distribute Univision programming in Mexico.
In connection with the investment, three Televisa representatives joined the Univision board of directors, which increased to 20 members. Emilio Azcárraga Jean, chairman of the board and CEO of Grupo Televisa; Alfonso de Angoitia, executive vice president of Grupo Televisa;, and Enrique F. Senior Hernández, managing director of Allen & Co. LLC., were named to the board of Univision. Additionally, José Bastón Patiño, president of Television and Contents and Member of the Executive Committee of Grupo Televisa, was named alternate member to the board.
Univision’s holdings include its eponymous broadcast network, which reaches around 95 percent of U.S. Hispanic households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network which reaches 85 percent of U.S. Hispanic households; Galavisión, a Spanish-language cable network; Univision Studios; 62 TV stations in the United States and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio; and Univision Interactive Media. Univision also owns TuTV, formed to broadcast Televisa’s pay TV channels in the United States.
