The CEO of the Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa has reportedly called on investors to give his management team a vote of confidence after a mixed response to the company’s planned acquisition of a 50% stake in the mobile operator…
The CEO of the Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa has reportedly called on investors to give his management team a vote of confidence after a mixed response to the company’s planned acquisition of a 50% stake in the mobile operator Iusacell.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Emilio Azcarraga had said that acquiring Iusacell is a key feature in his plan to make Televisa’s portfolio a better alternative to Mexican consumers than the country’s telecoms giant, America Movil.
This followed the announcement last week that Televisa would acquire the 50% stake in Iusacell for US$1.6bn.
At the time, it said: “The participation of Televisa in mobile voice and data is critical to its efforts of expanding its presence in the telecommunications industry.”
But Bloomberg reported yesterday that some investors in Televisa were criticising the decision.
It cited Jack Deino from Invesco Partners, who reportedly claimed that Azcarraga was paying for a company that has failed to gain market share against America Movil.
America Movil’s subsidiaries, the fixed-line operator Telmex and the mobile operator Telcel, control 80% and 70% of their respective markets.
Meanwhile, Grupo Televisa controls around 75% of the Mexican television market. It has been moving into the telecoms space, through its affiliates Bestel (fixed-line), Cablevision (internet, cable TV and fixed-line) and Cablemas (internet, cable TV and fixed-line).
Iusacell will allow Televisa to enter the mobile space, enabling it to offer quadruple-play services.
This could potentially give them a competitive advantage over America Movil, which has so far not been allowed to enter the television market.