NEW YORK: Haim Saban, the billionaire media and entertainment investor, is part of a private equity group considering a bid for Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Saban s name appeared early on when the bidding interest flared up, but then quickly disappeared as bankers and private equity sources assumed he had lost interest in the company, which put it up for sale in February. Several sources close to the auction said that Saban is indeed actively involved in the private equity consortium, consisting of Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners that is considering a bid for Univision. A spokeswoman for Saban declined to comment. Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa plans to team up with four U.S. private equity firms and an investment fund started by Microsoft CEO Bill Gates to explore a rival bid for Univision. The company is expected to fetch more than $12 billion. Televisa said in a filing last week that it has teamed up with Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Cascade Investment, Gates s fund, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Bankers and private equity executives familiar with the auction have said that a Televisa bidding group may have the upper hand in an Univision offer because Televisa already owns around 11.4 percent of the company. But Saban s presence with the other group brings significant clout and media savvy to the team. Saban, whose personal wealth is estimated at more than $3 billion according to a person close to him, was a television producer noted for bringing the Power Rangers cartoon series to the U.S. from Japan. Saban, 61, established the Saban Entertainment Corporation, a television production company that later merged with Rupert Murdoch s Fox Kids Network. In 1997, the Saban-Fox partnership acquired the Fox Family Channel, which was bought by Disney in October 2001 for more than $5 billion. Soon after the deal, the Egyptian-born Saban formed the Los Angeles-based Saban Capital Group, a private and public equity investment company that is focused on the media and entertainment industry. Saban and a group of private equity firms bought German broadcaster ProSieben out of bankruptcy in 2003. The private equity consortium included Bain, Providence, and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The company, called ProSiebenSat.1, is now Germany s largest commercial broadcaster. Univision s main attraction to prospective buyers is its growth potential, as the Spanish-language advertising market in the United States has lagged the growth of Spanish-speakers living in the country. U.S. foreign ownership rules prevent Televisa from taking control of the U.S.-based Univision. Under current U.S legislation, Televisa could only boost its stake to 25 percent. Therefore, Televisa would need a partner to achieve its aim of a bigger chunk of the U.S. Hispanic market, one of the fastest-growing in advertising sales. Reuters
