Martín Sabbatella at yesterday’s press conference (photo: José Romero/telam/aa)
The Federal Administration of Audiovisual Communication (AFSCA) rejected Grupo Clarín’s voluntary divestment plan to comply with the media law and will execute the divestment ex-officio.
The announcement was made yesterday in a press conference by the head of AFSCA Martín Sabbatella, who accused the owners of Clarín of attempting to evade the law. Sabbatella explained that the proposed owners and administrators of the two main business units the group will be divided into are linked through a web of shared commercial interests.
Last year, and after a long judicial battle, Grupo Clarín presented a voluntary compliance plan in order to abide by the 2009 media law.
The media conglomerate proposed to divide its audiovisual licences into six separate and independent business units, and this was approved by AFSCA in February. Afterwards, Clarín put forward the names of the new owners of each of the six business units, which AFSCA rejected yesterday.
The two most important business units in terms of journalistic contents and revenue would remain in the hands of Lucio Pagliaro and José Aranda and of Héctor Magnetto and Ernestina Herrera de Noble, respectively. However, AFSCA found that by splitting the assets this way, the current owners would be conducting a sort of “joint management” of both business units through a complex network of business partnerships based in Argentina, New Zealand, Panama, and the US, that link them as well as the law firms representing them. Sabbatella said that, through this mechanism, “they seek to hold on to their dominant [market] position not guaranteeing the spirit of the law, which is about the independence of the companies.”
Sabbatella also denounced a second manoeuvre allegedly planned to protect the group’s market position, consisting of a series of “abusive” conditions set by the group to the buyers of the remaining business units.
He explained that prospective buyers would not be allowed to transfer shares or assets for a period of between six and eight years, giving Grupo Clarín the chance to re-acquire them within that period. Afterwards, if the owners decide to sell, Clarín would have preferential right to purchase. The group would also be the exclusive supplier of contents to the TV channels involved.
In a statement, Grupo Clarín defended the plan, saying that Sabbatella’s allegations “are deliberately false” and that “the two supposed manoeuvres are completely legal and regular procedures for the effective compliance of the law, which was carried out with an unprecedented level of accuracy and transparency.” It accused the government of “persecuting and harassing” the group.
AFSCA will now take the divestment procedure into its own hands, starting with an appraisal of the business units involved. It has been reported that the authorities plan to keep the planned division into six business units and sell units two to five, leaving unit one to the current owners. The base price for the units to be sold would be the same that Clarín established in its voluntary compliance plan.
Grupo Clarín is expected to challenge the decision in court.
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