Companies

Prisa

Prisa Group: Dismantling of Spain’s Top Media Giant Means End Of An Era

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Prisa, the symbol of the transition from Franco’s dictatorship to democracy, was born in 1972 as a family-owned business but since the end of 2010, the major company’s owner is US hedge fund Liberty Acquisitions Holdings with a stake of 51%. Prisa has recently carried out a new capital increase and all signs suggest that it could start to disinvest some of its more precious assets with the aim of cutting its overwhelming debt to the minimum. Poor management decisions taken along the way? Many workers don’t hide their disappointment with the firm and say things will never be the same.



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Santander to Buy Stake in Bank of Shanghai for $647M

MADRID | As part of its strategy to increase its presence in China, the Spanish lender Banco Santander will buy an 8 percent stake in Bank of Shanghai for 470 million euros. The deal includes a cooperation agreement between both entities and makes Santander the second-largest shareholder in BoS.


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Is Amazon’s Drone Plan Solid?

NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has been getting free advertising for media all around the world since he unveiled his last idea: getting automated devices to deliver packages to their customers. The plan, which won’t materialize before 4-5 years, still needs a lot of work. It will open the door to a different use of the highly controversial drones, currently used by the U.S. army for selected killings in the Middle East, among others. Critics insist the online giant may just be putting on a great farce. In the video above, the fears of the Taiwanese animation company TomoNews, which has been critiziced for the use of clichés, too.

 



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Globalvia and Sacyr Win €35m Dublin Motorway Contract

DUBLIN | The Corner Team | Globalvia, the infrastructure investor and operator owned by the global infrastructure group FCC and Bankia (formerly Caja Madrid), has been awarded a €35m contract for the operation, maintenance and renewal of 161km of motorway segments in the Greater Dublin area in Ireland alongside Sacyr.

 


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Telefónica to inject €1.5-2Bn Cash in Telecom Italia

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Telecom Italia needs to reorganise  its balance sheet via a capital increase, a dividend cut or a sale of assets. Spanish Telefónica, which has a 22.4% stake of the Italian firm through Telco, may be willing to help the company by a convertible securities issue or the participation in that capital increase.


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Telefonica to Sell its Czech Stake for $3.6 Billion

MADRID | The Corner Team | Telefonica is preparing a sale of its stake in the Czech Republic’s biggest phone company to raise cash for further industry consolidation, according to three sources familiar with the deal who preferred to stay anonymous. The stake had a market value of about $3.6 billion before Monday’s increase. The stock rose as much as 6.9 percent.


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Telefonica and Telecom Italia: Peace Of Mind Worth $437M

The Corner Team | The deal for Spain’s Telefonica to raise its stake in Telco and control Telecom Italia will be ready before Friday, according to Economía Digital. An operation that prevents Carlos Slim, through America Movil, or American competitor AT&T from taking positions in the Italian market. Telefónica’s peace of mind is worth 324 million euros ($437 million).


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Telefonica in Talks to Buy Telecom Italia

The Corner Team | Spanish Telefónica is in talks to become the main shareholder of Telco, Telecom Italia’s holding company, which is struggling with a millionaire debt and a fiercely competitive market, Dow Jones reports. The proposal under discussion would have Telefónica increasing its stake to 70% before next week.