Following a capital increase of €35m, Media Globe Networks, a company controlled by the Sawiris Family, becomes the majority shareholder of Euronews
Euronews announced that Media Globe Networks, a company owned by the Sawiris Family and managed by Naguib Sawiris, now holds 53% of shares of the international news media based in Lyon. The majority stake has been purchased through a capital increase of €35m. The remaining 47% of shares stay with Euronews’ traditional shareholders; 21 public television channels and 3 local authorities. The purchase of Media Globe Networks of Euronews’ capital comes after several months of exclusive negotiations, validated by an Extraordinary General Assembly on June 19th.
Since then, a dedicated Shareholders Agreement has been signed by the vast majority of the public shareholders, giving final validation to the entrance of Media Globe Networks to the capital.
Euronews will be governed by three distinctive bodies: The Supervisory Board, the Editorial Board and the Executive Board. The 10 members of the Editorial Board will be journalists or have a strong experience in the media area. Seven out of the 10 members of this Editorial Board, including the Chairman, will be directly appointed by the public shareholders of Euronews. The creation of the Editorial Board will allow an active permanent control of the independence and diversity of Euronews editorial line. This new governance, validated by all stakeholders, will ensure the preservation of the mission of general interest of the international news media as well as its editorial independence.
The Supervisory Board also renewed the directorship of Mr. Michael Peters as CEO of Euronews for a term of 4 years.
“I am grateful for the consistent support that the Euronews’ Shareholders demonstrated over the preceding months throughout this project, which will definitely put Euronews in a new dimension”, commented CEO Michael Peters. “The process of capital increase started one year ago. We chose to enter exclusive negotiations with Media Globe Networks, because of its clear commitment and guarantees to respect Euronews diversity and editorial independence. We are delighted to work alongside our new investor to expand our reach and service lines in order to reinforce Euronews’ position as a key-player in the media industry.”
“Euronews is a strong, global, independent and highly professional news media,” commented Naguib Sawiris, the Chairman and CEO of Media Globe Networks. “I believe that Euronews, with its unique expertise, has a huge potential for future growth and do fully support Michael Peters and his team in their aim of raising Euronews to the next level.”
“The public shareholders welcome the investment of Media Globe Networks and look forward to working alongside Naguib Sawiris to support the future growth and development of Euronews”, said Paolo Garimberti, current Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Euronews. “The new governance provides all the guarantees regarding the editorial independence of Euronews. The public shareholders will remain closely involved alongside the new investor for the success of this unique media.”
Founded in 1993, Euronews is producing international news and magazines 24/24 in 13 language editions available to 425 million households in 158 countries.
Euronews extends its agreement with CTH in Thailand
The international news channel is now available on mobile and IPTV, in addition to cable and satellite broadcasting.
(Lyon, 7 July) Euronews reinforces its position on the Thai audiovisual market, thanks to an important extension of its distribution agreement with one of the major operators in the country, CTH.
Broadcast since last year via cable and satellite, the agreement includes the availability of Euronews on the CTH mobile app, on iOS and Android. The recently launched app counts more than 65,000 downloads.
Moreover, CTH subscribers can have a 24/7 access to the English service of Euronews on both ZIPtv (IPTV) and CTH Everywhere (mobile application).
Arnaud Verlhac, Worldwide Distribution Director of Euronews said: “Thanks to our agreement in 2014, we immediately reached one million new households. It was a strong success for Euronews in Thailand. I’m thrilled that a couple months later, CTH chose the channel again and makes it available on its wide range of offers (cable, DTH, IPTV and mobile)”.
Sabrina Mimouni, Regional Distribution Manager Asia-Pacific added: “In Thailand, more people watch TV on their mobile devices than on TV screens. It was crucial to join the CTH mobile app. We are proud to announce that Euronews’ launch on the app has been a great success with more than 65,000 downloads”.
(Source: Euronews press release)