Within days Telefónica will decide for good whether it will buy a 6% share in Grupo Prisa according to sources consulted by elEconomista. If the telecom does the deal, it will accompany three major Spanish banks in the purchase, each of which will own a same size stake in Prisa, which is currently managed by César Alierta.
Telefónica's interest is two-fold. First, it wants to block Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim from increasing his Prisa holdings. Second, it wants to strengthen its Imagenio Movil content offerings so that they are similar to those offered by Sogecable, also known as Prisa TV.
Banco Santander, HSBC and La Caixa have agreed to buy 18% collectively through a debt capitalization of 334 million euros. Bankia, which currently owns a big stake in Prisa, has yet to confirm whether it will join the group of other banks If it does, its total holdings would equal 24% and be near the amount that the Polanco family has invested once it completes it completes its latest round of capital raising that it should be finished within two years.
Telefónica, for its part, plans to underwrite a 100-million euro bond issue destined for institutional investors. Within the company, people are assuring that another significant company is thinking of buying a stake, but sources close to Prisa assure that it will only want Telefónica involved. An agreement about convertible bonds is still waiting approval from shareholders, who will meet on June 30. So the acquisitions will not be finalized until the end of the month.
