Speculation that the Mexican telecoms magnate Carlos Slim has acquired a stake in the Spanish media company Grupo Prisa has been denied, according to media reports.
Reuters Espana reported on Wednesday that earlier reports that Slim had acquired a stake…
Speculation that the Mexican telecoms magnate Carlos Slim has acquired a stake in the Spanish media company Grupo Prisa has been denied, according to media reports.
Reuters Espana reported on Wednesday that earlier reports that Slim had acquired a stake of 2-3% in Grupo Prisa had been denied by a spokesman for Grupo Carso.
Grupo Carso is a holding company of which Slim is president and which holds various companies, including hotel groups, infrastructure and construction firms.
Prisa describes itself as “the world’s leading Spanish and Portuguese-language business group in the fields of education, information and entertainment”. Its brands include the El Pais newspaper.
But Prisa’s most recent results have been disappointing. Its 2010 annual results, published in February 2011, showed that it had gone from a net profit of E50.4m in 2009 to a net loss of E72.9m in 2010.
Carlos Slim has shown before that he is not adverse to investing in media companies.
He currently holds a 16% stake in the New York Times Company, which owns several newspapers, including the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.
Grupo Carso and Grupo Prisa did not reply to questions before the press deadline.
