Alpac Capital has finalised the acquisition of a majority stake in Euronews following approval of the investment by the French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Recovery.
Alpac Capital is an investment fund manager based in Portugal, owned by Pedro Vargas David and Luís Santos, and the transaction, as previously reported by Broadband TV News, was first announced last December.
According to Euronews, Alpac intends to strengthen the European identity of the Euronews project, in particular by deepening the dialogue with Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission in Brussels, and by continuing the media’s digitalisation process, as well as its diversification efforts.
Commenting on the development, Vargas David, CEO of Alpac Capital, said: “I am very pleased to see Alpac acquire a stake in Euronews. We firmly believe in the need to amplify Euronews’ voice in the European media landscape, and even beyond the continent’s borders.
“Europe has experienced times of instability in the past decade: financial, sanitary and now military crises, which, not so long ago, would have been practically unthinkable. The European Union has thus played an even more central role in our lives. For the EU, as it is our wish, to be more efficient and strong, it must be even more democratic and responsible: none of this is possible without a strong and free press”.
Vargas David went on to say: “Euronews’ European and independent offer must not only be supported but also reinforced” and specified that “this is the meaning and the purpose of Alpac’s investment”.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese journalist Graça Franco, former director of news at Rádio Renascença and until very recently ombudswoman at the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP, has been appointed chair of Euronews’ editorial council.
Commenting further on the transaction, Guillaume Dubois, recently appointed CEO of Euronews, said: “The new impetus given by the arrival of Alpac Capital will allow Euronews to further develop and improve its television and digital offering.
“The war in Ukraine reminds us how important it is for people to be able to rely on trustworthy, high-quality news, specialised on European issues in a broad sense”.
Euronews is broadcast in 160 countries and more than 400 million households worldwide, reaching more than 145 million people every month. It aims to break even by 2023.
