La Liga rights holder Mediapro reportedly secures €55 million loan

Spanish rights agency Mediapro has reportedly reached an agreement to secure €55 million in loans from shareholders. 

Mediapro is the largest media company in the country with over 7,100 employees and, according to local news outlet El Confidencial, it has secured funding to navigate through the coronavirus pandemic. The company is the primary holder of domestic rights to Spain’s La Liga football league.

Mediapro, owned by Imagina, will have financing granted by Deutsche Bank, with the €55 million provided proportionally from shareholders based on the number of shares each of them currently holds.

Orient Hontai Capital, a Chinese private equity firm, is the largest shareholder in Mediapro and owns 53.5% of the company. Other Major shareholders include WWP with 22.5%, Mediapro CEO Jaume Roures with 12% and Josep Maria Benet – chairman of Mediapro’s holding company Imagina – also has 12%.

The paper reports that Orient Hontai will contribute €29.4 million, with Roures and Benet each contributing €6.6 million.

Mediapro reportedly was seeking a €125 million loan last month following the impact of coronavirus on its live sports schedule. The company also reported a €150 million drop in annual revenues for 2019 just as the pandemic was starting to affect Europe, mostly as a result of its La Liga rights deal.

Mediapro shareholders were also believed to be looking at a public offer, but that was derailed by the pandemic.

This new financing will add €55 million to Mediapro’s €920 liabilities, with the company reportedly having to amortise half in 2020 and the remaining 50% in 2021.

To help its financial state, Mediapro has also applied Spain’s ERTE schemes for furloughing staff. It has temporarily suspended 1,200 employees in Spain and said it hopes to return 100% of those to work.