WASHINGTON — Federal approval Tuesday of the $12.3-billion sale of Univision Communications Inc. to a group of private investors was just the first hurdle for the new owners of the country's largest Spanish-language media company.
The group, which includes Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban and four private equity partners, has its biggest challenges ahead: Its members must deal with an enormous debt burden, better tap the advertising market, repair frayed relations with its Mexican programming partner, Grupo Televisa, and simply get along with one another.
"For the new owners, it will be all about getting more ad dollars to come in as quickly as possible to service that debt," said Manny Gonzalez, managing director of Hill Holliday Hispanic, a Miami-based ad agency that specializes in the Latino market.
Univision's new owners also will grapple with new technologies that are dramatically altering the media landscape as well as the changing habits of its viewers.
Unlike their parents and grandparents, young Latinos are typically bilingual and are just as comfortable watching television in English as in Spanish.
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday approved the sale after Century City-based Univision agreed to a record $24-million fine for violating children's TV programming requirements. The fine settles complaints dating to 2004 against two dozen Univision TV stations for airing children's soap operas, known as \o7telenovelas, \f7to comply with a federal educational programming guideline.
"In exchange for their use of the airwaves ... broadcasters are responsible for serving the public, including the children in their audience," FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said in a written statement. "Today's action reminds all broadcasters of this responsibility and obligation."
The FCC approved the transfer of Univision's 147 TV and radio licenses to the new owners. It includes Saban Entertainment Group, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners. Last June, they agreed to pay $36.25 a share for Univision and to assume $1.4 billion in debt, bringing the total value of the deal to $13.7 billion. The transaction is expected to close as early as Thursday. Univision declined to comment.
Univision Chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio, already a Bel-Air billionaire, will make about $1.3 billion from the sale of his 11.5% stake in the company.
