The news of negotiations led to the suspension of Impresa’s shares on the stock exchange, which surged over 80% upon resuming trading on Monday, drawing attention to Francisco Pinto Balsemão’s historic media group.
Over the weekend, the group issued two statements, the latest on Sunday, September 28, acknowledging that “the possibility of acquisition” by MFE – MediaForEurope “of a significant (direct or indirect) stake to control Impresa” is not ruled out, although no binding agreement existed at that time.
Initially, Impresa announced that its majority shareholder had informed the company about engaging in exclusive contacts with the MFE group to evaluate potential corporate transactions for acquiring a significant stake in Impresa.
Impresa SGPS is 50.306% owned by Impreger SGPS, which is 71.410% controlled by Balseger SGPS of Francisco Pinto Balsemão, as reported by Portugal da Transparência.
In his 2021 autobiography, founder Francisco Pinto Balsemão mentioned that he was prepared to make drastic decisions, including selling everything while maintaining a minority position if necessary.
“Impresa is still navigating a challenging phase,” Balsemão wrote in “Memórias,” published four years ago. “But I am confident that we are in good hands and will safely reach our goal once again. I will remain at the helm to assist in the difficult navigation, but if one day it becomes necessary, I am ready to make drastic decisions, frankly, to sell, preferring to sell everything rather than accept a minority solution disguised as honorary presidencies or similar titles.”
In March, CEO Francisco Pedro Balsemão told Lusa that Impresa aimed to reduce costs by 10% by 2028, equivalent to 16 million euros, and diversify revenue streams.
In 2024, losses amounted to 66.2 million due to impairments, marking “the culmination of a three-year negative cycle,” as the CEO stated to Lusa, noting it began on January 2, 2022, with a cyber-attack.
“We lost one million euros in costs and lost revenues,” during the disruption, the CEO explained, highlighting the additional impact of covering the Ukraine war. “This context didn’t help, either,” he added.
“We haven’t reduced the debt over the past two years – 2023 and 2024 – but if we look at the past 17 years – from 2008 to 2024 – the debt has been halved, and the trend is downward,” he told Lusa in March. Specifically, from 2008 to 2024, it decreased from 259 million euros to 130.9 million euros.
Also in March, the CEO asserted to Lusa that Impresa’s main assets were not for sale.
Beyond cost reduction, Impresa considered the potential sale of its building to generate financial gains. However, in July, the deal failed due to an inability to agree on terms with BPI Gestão de Ativos regarding the sale of the headquarters in Paço de Arcos, prompting a commitment to find other solutions.
In the first half, losses increased to 5.1 million euros, with revenues down 0.8% to 85.9 million euros, and EBITDA dropped 35.5% to 2.9 million euros.
At the time, Francisco Pedro Balsemão, quoted in the results statement, expressed confidence in achieving this year’s expected results through implemented measures.
“This marks the start of Impresa’s operational and financial recovery,” he noted on July 24, “We believe that, with our strategic plan, coupled with brand leadership in television, digital, and podcasts, as well as Expresso’s circulation success, we will meet our targeted results by 2025, impacting the following three-year period.”
A little over two months later, the market awaits the conclusion of the negotiations confirmed at the end of September.
Besides SIC and Expresso, Impresa owns SIC Radical, SIC Mulher, SIC Caras, K SIC, SIC Novelas, SIC Internacional, SIC Esperança, Blitz, and the streaming platform Opto, among other brands.
Italian group MFE, primarily owned by Fininvest of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s family, aims to become Europe’s leading TV and media operator.
