(Associated Press via NewsEdge) A consortium of investors led by Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa made an offer to acquire Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications that exceeds a bid of about $10.7 billion submitted by a rival investor group, a person familiar with the offer said.
The Televisa group's bid is more than the roughly $35 a share offered by the competing investor group, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the negotiations.
The person declined to disclose the amount of the Televisa group's offer but said it was fully financed.
Televisa already owns an 11% stake in Univision, while Venezuelan broadcaster Venevision, one of its investment partners, controls 14%.
Both are principal suppliers of Univision programming.
In addition to Televisa and Venevision, the consortium includes private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Cascade Investment, which invests for billionaire Bill Gates.
The rival investor group consists of private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, and media mogul Haim Saban.
c 2006 The Associated Press
c 2006 Dialog, a Thomson business. All rights reserved