According to the company, these businesses represent around 7.4% of consolidated revenues and approximately 3.4% of operating cash flow (EBITDA).
Grupo Televisa brought together various businesses from diverse sectors, from magazine and sports publications to telecommunications. But given the rapid change in markets and consumer habits, the company began a strategy of selling non-strategic operations in 2019, with the aim of concentrating its resources on assets that allow it to generate higher income.
In 2019, Grupo Televisa put up for sale 40% of its stake in Ocesa Entertainment to Live Nation Entertainment, a company resulting from the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, whose transaction was finalized in December of last year. Another case was the sale of 50% of its participation in Radiópolis to Grupo Coral of the Alemán family, whose closing was one of the most complicated, since the Alemáns did not pay the agreed price at the closing date of the sale operation, for which they were sued by the television station.
What will the new company be like and what awaits him?
The Executive Co-Chairman of Grupo Televisa explains that the formation of the new company, which will have sports and publishing assets, although it will be small, will allow these businesses to have a more strategic focus and flexibility as it is a separate and independent company.
De Angoitia revealed that the Azteca Stadium and Club América, for example, have not been able to recover the income levels they maintained prior to the pandemic. According to company data, the annual income of its other business segment that conglomerates the Azteca Stadium fell 92% in 2020.
Sporting events, such as the soccer league in Mexico, were one of the segments most affected by the pandemic, first due to the cancellation of games and later due to reduced capacity, accompanied by a reluctance of users to return to sites with large crowds.
Given this scenario, the manager considers that the new company will face great challenges: return to pre-pandemic income levels of sports assets, as well as invest more in the Azteca Stadium for its remodeling, as part of its commitment to host the World Cup. 2026.
“One of the challenges of the new company will be to modernize the Azteca Stadium, so that company will have to finance that great capex (investments),” said the manager.
Another challenge that the new company will have is deciding what to do with the part of the publications. “You will have to decide what you want to do with the migration from print to digital with our magazines, and also the distribution company for the print magazines. So that will be a strategic decision for the new company,” he concluded.