Buying a TV station is perhaps not quite as straightforward as it used to be, at least in Hungary.
Earlier this week, quoting local media sources, we reported that Andrew G. Vajna, a Hungarian-American film producer and also the government commissioner in charge of the Hungarian film industry, was set to buy TV2, one of the country’s two leading broadcasters. Indeed, he had apparently already signed contracts, while its current owners Zsolt Simon and Yvonne Dederick were preparing to do so shortly.
The deal was likely to close by the end of the year, conditional on its approval by the National Competition Office (GVH), and Vajna was set to take out a loan of over HUF20 billion (€64.3 million) to cover the cost of the acquisition.
However, this Thursday (October 15) we learnt, also from local media sources, that a company named Megapolis Media was questioning the deal. Indeed, its owners Károly Fonyó and Lajos Simicska claimed that it could not have happened as Megapolis Media itself bought TV2 Media Group Holding on Tuesday, October 13.
Furthermore, Megapolis Media’s acquisition of the holding was made by it exercising a purchase option, essentially through what was described as a “complicated contract”.
So where does this leave TV2? It’s hard to say at the moment, but hopefully we’ll have some idea in the near future.
Unfortunately, there is a political dimension to this story, with Vajna apparently close to the ruling Fidesz party and Simicska strongly opposed, having fallen out with its leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, earlier this year.
All this comes alongside two other important, though completely unrelated, events that took place in Hungary earlier this week.
The first saw the PM lend his support to a proposed so-called ‘Google Tax’ aimed at multinational internet-based companies operating in Hungary.
The second was the appointment of Magnus Ternsjö as CEO of UPC Hungary.
He will be returning to the region after two years, having headed UPC’s DTH business in the four CEE markets it operates before becoming the CEO of UPC Ireland in 2013.
