While Univision’s owners, who include billionaire Haim Saban, are trying to find someone to buy the Spanish-language media company, they aren’t getting “the nibbles its owners have been looking for,” reports the Los Angeles Times’ Company Town.
The reason? “Potential buyers are balking at a $20 billion price tag for a company weighed down by $9 billion in debt,” the story reports.
While Univision would be a “big catch” for media companies seeking to expand in Spanish-language broadcasting, the hitch is that Saban and his partners bought the network at the top of the market in 2007, paying $13.7 billion.
“They also have struggled to pay down the mountain of debt, brought on by their leveraged buyout to take the company private,” the piece notes.
The partners are also reportedly not in agreement over when to sell, with some partners wanting to keep the company for a few more years, according to the report. That’s because some owners want to pay down more debt and increase their equity before selling, the report adds.
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