Majority stake of troubled European news broadcaster is sold off to Portuguese investment company, ending a seven year stint under the control of Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris.
In February it was revealed that Euronews was in severe financial difficulty. As a result, Sawiris loaned Euronews over €8 million and had to promise business continuity for one year. With the clock ticking away, a deal to offload the channel was reached late Friday.
Portuguese Alpac Capital has now snapped up an 88% share in the business; the remaining share of the business sits with a variety of European public service broadcasters.
In a press release, Euronews reported positive growth and increases in operating profit. The broadcaster declined to disclose financial details of the transaction.
Under the ownership of Sawiris, NBC briefly took a minority stake in the news channel, before selling it back to the Egyptian at a loss. NBC then went on to focus on another ill-fated global news service in association with Sky.
In the past three years, Euronews has been forced to do a U-turn on its English language channel, scrapping a number of short-lived presenter-led shows in favour of a return to a traditional hourly news cycle. The broadcaster has increasingly focused on a number of digital strands, including Euronews Green, Euronews Travel and Euronews Culture.
A brief history
Euronews launched on 1st January 1993, supported by ten European public broadcasters. ITN purchased a 49% share in the late 1990s, during which time the channel began to be carried by UK TV platforms. Since then, various owners and shareholders have come and gone. Many of the original shareholders have gone on to develop their own news channels and sold their Euronews shares. These include Spain’s RTVE and Italy’s RAI.
Euronews is currently used as a sustaining service during the early hours by Ireland’s RTÉ, one of the minority shareholders in the channel.
Pedro Vargas David, CEO of Alpac Capital, said:
“I belong to the generation that was born and grew up with Europe, and who considers it an opportunity. If it has brought us peace for decades, it is also a great place for expression and debate. I am deeply convinced that Euronews, because of the quality of its teams and its potential, can be the place where all the voices of Europe are expressed. In the coming months we will have to build a resolutely digital project … With this transformation, Euronews can take its rightful place in Europe.”