 SPAIN | ALLIANCES |
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| Antena 3 Still Not Able to Merge with La Sexta |
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In light of the lack of answers from the National Competition Commission and JB Capital Markets' concerns, it looks as it the alliance won't benefit Antena 3 until 2015.
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The negotiations between Antena 3 and the CNC (National Competition Commission) in regard to the company's alliance with La Sexta, continue. Planeta's company is expected to be given conditions similar to those Medaset had to meet when it acquired Cuatro, which was mainly not jointly commercializing both networks' ads.
Yet, the scenario isn't the same as when Cuatro and Telecinco joined forces. If the union between Antena 3 and La Sexta actually takes place, the Spanish market will be ruled by two giants which will account for 85% of the ad industry.
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The situation is even more complicated considering Antena 3's unique advertising system (through which it broadcasts the same ads on all its channels, simultaneously). What if La Sexta's networks use this model? It makes sense that the CNC finds this alliance to be a threat to fair competition in the Spanish ad market.
Yet, a new issue is added to this problem: according to a recent report by JB Capital Markets, the decrease in ad sales in Spain might mean the alliance will start to generate value for Antena 3 in 2015.
"In light of our new predictions, we believe the transaction will dilute the earnings per share in 2012 until 2014, due to a very weak ad market," said the report quoted by El Confidencial. The price of advertising will decrease 12% in 2012 and will only grow 1.1% in 2013.
On March 21, the CNC decided not to approve the alliance and analyze it further. The deadline for this second stage was two months, and has already ended a long time ago. But the companies must wait a little longer since a final decision is not expected until the end of July.
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