Despite initial talks with CBS Corp and Time Warner Inc, the owners of U.S. Spanish-language media giant Univision would like to wait and get more for their company by boosting its earnings some more, before either selling or going for an IPO, according to Reuters.
Univision Communications was acquired in 2007 by a consortium led by Haim Saban’s Saban Capital Group, TPG Capital, L.P., Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners, for $13.7 billion, plus the assumption of $1.4 billion in debt.
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An IPO could raise as much as $1 billion, and value the company at $15 billion. But, for now, even that staggering amount of money is far from enough to handle the company’s debt problem.
According to a Reuters source, Univision has to pay down a $9.2 billion in debt before turning to potential buyers or investors. And they would like to reduce the debt with the company’s own revenue.
Univision’s income more than tripled, to $77.8 million, in the quarter that ended March 31, allowing it to pay down close than $130 million of its debt.