Mediapro reportedly preparing the ground for IPO

Spanish broadcaster and producer Mediapro has begun preparing the ground for an IPO, according to a report by local news outlet El Confidencial.

According to El Confidencial, citing unnamed sources, the Catalan outfit, which is now majority owned by Chinese investor Orient Hontai, is in advanced talks to choose three international banks to lead the flotation, which could value the company at around €3 billion.

Citing other unnamed sources close to the process, El Confidencial says that the most likely banks to lead the IPO are Citi, Deutsche Banks and Goldman Sachs.

The news service reports that the broadcaster’s shareholders have contracted Rothschild as advisor to the company’s administrative board and to negotiate the price of the share offering with the three banks. While no date has been set, the IPO could be launched in the second half of this year or the first half of 2020.

Separately, Mediapro has condemned the outcome of Spanish football governing body the Real Federación Española de Fútbol’s decision to award a contract for the supply of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) services to a rival bidder despite the fact that Mediapro’s bid would realise savings of almost €1 million. Mediapro said it would contest the decision.

Mediapro has been at war with the RFEF after the latter decided to exclude the Catalan outfit from bidding for rights to the Copa del Rey or the Supercopa de España on the grounds that the federation would not become commercially linked with a company embroiled in allegations of corrupt practices.

RFEF president Luis Rubiales had alleged that Mediapro was involved in bribing officialstosecure rights to the World Cup qualifying matches in Central America and the Caribbean.

Earlier this month, a Spanish court ruled that the RFEF could not exclude Mediapro from a competition to air the final of the Copa del Rey, which the football body had awarded to public broadcaster RTVE.