Univision Meets With Suitors Over Potential Sale

The owners of Univision Communications Inc., in their search for an exit, have held preliminary discussions in recent weeks with several media companies, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc., The Wall Stree Journal is reporting.

 

The Spanish-language broadcaster is said to be seeking more than $20 billion from suitors.

 

A group of investors, led by Haim Saban, control Univision. They purchased it for $13.7 billion, including debt, in early 2007. Mr. Saban didn't return a call seeking comment.

 

Univision has long been the dominant Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S. Even so, there is no sign any of the preliminary discussions have led anywhere, however. Among other issues, one person familiar with the situation said, was the price.

 

The broadcaster's owners had been expected to take the company public in a stock offering in 2015, paving the way for them to exit, though those plans aren't set yet. The owners had also looked to Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa SA which owns a minority stake of Univision and supplies much of its programming, as a possible buyer.

 

On an earnings call April 28, Univision CEO Randy Falco described the proposed Time Warner Cable-Comcast merger in unfavorable terms. It "could be bad for competition and most importantly bad for Hispanic audiences," he said at the time. 

 

Univision claims viewership in more than 94 million homes in the United States. 

 

CBS declined to comment on the Journal report.