Prisa cuts Canal+ price by €1,139 million

Juan Fernandez Gonzalez | 30-11--0001

Prisa wants to sell Canal+ as soon as possible and has admitted that the value of the pay-TV platform is much lower than it was two years ago. After several months of asking for a higher price, Prisa is now close to accepting Telefónica's offer of €910 million.

According to El Economista, Canal+ has dropped the price by €1,139 million over the last two years, mostly due to the expensive football rights – over €570 million a year. The platform is also losing subscribers, although it still tops the Spanish pay-TV market.

Prisa presented its 2013 financial results last week, revealing that advertising income is recovering (1.8% growth in Q4), printed media is stable and the Latin American business – mostly radio and editorial activities – is growing solidly. But Canal+ is no longer profitable, in spite of increasing its income by 9.2%.

Canal+ is also struggling under the increasing competition in Spain's pay-TV market. Movistar TV and ONO have redoubled efforts to improve their positions and have launched different offers, particularly aggressive regarding sports broadcasting.

So the future of Prisa's business seems to have moved away from TV. After managing to refinance its huge debt last year, the media group may focus on editorial activities, for which funds from the Canal+ sale would be vital.