By Alex Veiga
Associated Press
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

LOS ANGELES, June 27 -- Univision Communications Inc.'s board has agreed to sell the company, the nation's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, for $12.3 billion in cash to a consortium of investors, the parties involved in the sale announced Tuesday.

The figure agreed upon late Monday equals $36.25 a share, a 13 percent premium to Univision's closing stock price on Monday. The group of investors will also assume about $1.4 billion in debt.

The consortium, led by private equity firms Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, also includes Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, Providence Equity Partners Inc. and billionaire investor Haim Saban.

"Univision is truly a one-of-a-kind property," the acquiring group said in a written statement. "It is an outstanding media brand with exceptional positions in the fastest growing markets in the country, world-class assets, strong management, popular programming and unmatched ratings."

Grupo Televisa SA, a Mexican broadcaster that had led a rival consortium of investors, said it was disappointed with the outcome of the Univision auction.

Univision's bylaws allow Grupo Televisa, which owns an 11 percent stake in Univision and supplies it with much of its programming, to veto a sale of the company, but that could be defeated by a 60 percent approval from Univision shareholders.

The consortium led by the Texas Pacific Group initially bid $35.50 a share, or just under $11 billion, last week. But Univision, which had reportedly been seeking an offer of $40 a share, rejected it.

The investor group's offer remained on the table until Friday, when it expired. Both sides talked over the weekend and came to terms, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press.

The deal, if approved by Univision shareholders and regulators, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year or first quarter of 2007, according to a news release on the sale.

Univision dominates the U.S. Hispanic media market through its three television networks (Univision, TeleFutura and Galavision), more than two dozen television stations, a recorded music division, an Internet portal and Spanish-language radio stations.