Presented to private investor Global Alconaba
Spain’s flagship telco group and creative start up nurturer Telefónica has agreed to sell a 7.08% stake in the media group Prisa, the publisher of iconic Spanish newspaper El Pais, for €34 million.
According to Reuters, Telefónica agreed to divest itself of the investment with a 17% premium over the closing price on Wednesday to privately held Spanish firm Global Alconaba. Telefónica will retain a 1.95% stake in Prisa, it said in a filing to the stock market regulator.
Prisa has recently posted a small quarterly profit after posting losses in 2021. Its main shareholder is activist fund Amber Capital, led by French investor Joseph Oughourlian, with a 29.84% stake, according to Refinitiv Eikon. French media group Vivendi, subject of a power struggle over Telecom Italia (TIM) has a 9.94% stake in Prisa.
Viva Dúrcal!
Meanwhile Telefónica has claimed it is the lead investor, through its Telefonica Ventures vehicle, in an €8 million funding round for Spanish startup Durcal, the company behind the oldie-focused telecare app of the same name. Durcal is a free app which aims to connect older people and save them from alienate from their families. The newspaper El Pais was probably their favourite way of connecting with the world, but this app, though a reinvention of the existing Safe365, offers new features. Do older people want new features? Durcal is named after the singer Rocío Dúrcal and the Granada municipality of the same name (Dúrcal) which makes it easy for we older people to remember.