Update 20 April: CITIC Acquires Majority Stake In Medea Group
Rainbow Wisdom Investment a subsidiary of China’s state owned CITIC Group exercised an option to become the majority owner of Jaromír Soukup’s Medea Group, neovlivní.cz reports.
Both sides will determine how to settle the transaction next week. The option gives the Chinese company an opportunity to acquire a 57 percent stake in Medea.
How the move will impact operations of Soukup’s companies, especially Barrandov television, is not yet clear.
Last fall, Rainbow Wisdom Investment obtained the anti-monopoly authority’s permission to invest in Empresa Media and Medea. Rainbow Wisdom Investment acquired shares in both companies last June, when it took over the assets of CEFC China. It gained 49 percent in Empresa Media and 30 percent in the Medea Group.
Empresa Media is one of the largest Czech publishing houses. It publishes magazines such as Týden, Seven and Interview and books. At the turn of 2012 and 2013, Barrandov was added to the group.
Medea Group is the largest media company in the Czech Republic providing marketing and media services. Soukup acquired it in the late 1990s and turned it into one of the biggest players on the Czech market.
