Portfolio
Nature of Business
Prisa Radio is the world’s leading radio operator broadcasting in the Spanish language. It is based in Spain and has a significant operations in Latin America and presence in North America. The group has approximately 26 million listeners through its network of 1270 proprietary and affiliated radio stations in 8 countries.
The company was founded in 1924 and was acquired in the 1980s by PRISA, Spain’s largest media conglomerate. Following a merger with the Godó radio network in 1998, Prisa Radio has developed internationally, and now holds market-leading positions in Spain, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
Investment Overview
3i invested €100m in April 2008 for a minority stake.
Prisa Radio’s shareholders, PRISA and Godó, were looking for an investor who could help the company continue its international expansion. Our insight into the media sector and our experience of growing international businesses, jointly with our knowledge of the US market, helped the owners identify 3i as the right strategic partner.
Since our investment we have worked closely with management in two main areas. We have taken significant steps to create a lean business model through careful cost assessment and analysis, and have benchmarked Prisa Radio against its key competitors.
The business has grown significantly in Latin America. We have also supported a strategic acquisition plan by leveraging our network within the media sector and have introduced our New York team to formally assess the potential to grow Prisa Radio in the U.S. market.