Mediapro Group has refinanced its debts, handing majority shareholder Southwind Group more control of the Barcelona-based production and live broadcasting services giant and easing financial pressures.
The agreement, which Mediapro says “definitively resolves uncertainties caused by the effect the [COVID-19] pandemic” hands the company an immediate €620M ($530M) capital increase.
Most of this will be used to bring Mediapro’s €900M debt down to below €400M in net debt, or €500M in gross debt. This takes the debt load below three times EBITDA. The remaining cash will be used as working capital.
Shareholders of Southwind, the owner of Mediapro’s Chinese conglomerate parent Orient Hontai Capital, fully subscribed to the refinancing. This means Southwind’s overall shareholding grows from 53% to 80%. UK-based ad giant WPP now owns 10%, with Mediapro founders Jaume Roures and Tatxo Benet taking the other 10%.
Mediapro — whose Mediapro Studios has become one of the biggest players in European and Latin American production through shows such as Yosi, The Regretful Spy — closed 2021 with turnover of about €1.2B and EBITDA of €168M. However, it was badly affected by the pandemic and also saw a soccer rights broadcasting agreement with the French football association LFP collapse in 2020.
The new deal puts it on surer footing heading into the second half of 2022. According to Mediapro, it gives the company “a solid and healthy financial structure on which to base its plans for growth.”
The refinancing was first unveiled in November 2021.
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