FCC Set to Approve $13.7 Billion Univision Buyout
An order approving Univision’s $13.7 billion takeover by private equity firms had received at least 4 votes from FCC Commissioners by late Thurs., multiple FCC sources said. Comr. McDowell hadn’t voted, said an FCC and an industry official. Other sources, however, disagreed and said that all 5 commissioners voted to approve the merger. McDowell’s office declined comment.
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Under the deal, Univision’s buyers, which include Thomas Lee and Providence Equity, will get a 6-month waiver of the media ownership rules to come into compliance, we're told. Some of the companies buying Univision have stakes in other media companies that put them over ownership limits. The order includes a $24 million fine for kids programming violations.
The hefty fine was bigger than anyone expected and contributed to a delay getting the deal done (CD March 15 p12), said Stanford Group analyst Paul Gallant. Questions remain about how the order deals with private equity ownership of Univision, he said: “It will be interesting to see what the Commission says about the private equity angle here because there were allegations that this deal would be harmful to the public because of the limited transparency of private owners.”