Univision confirms IPO plan

US Hispanic broadcaster Univision is going public after filing for an IPO.

The plan, which has been in the works for months, will see Univision Communications offer an unspecified number of Class A common stock on a currently unannounced stock exchange.

Pricing of the IPO has not been revealed either, though the company posted full-year revenues of US$2.9 billion in 2014.

This marks the second time Univision, which Randy Falco (pictured) leads as CEO, has made headlines this week after it dropped the Miss USA Pageant from air after Donald Trump made disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants in the US.

Univision, which often posts broadcast numbers akin to the major networks and is the largest Spanish-language media group in the US, has various assets.

Unvision Communications owns broadcast channels Univision and UniMás, a number of cable networks, 60 TV stations, radio networks and investments in Robert Rodriguez network El Rey and Disney joint venture network ABC Fusion.

Univision’s current owners include Saban Capital Group, Slingshot Media investor Texas Pacific Group, former Hulu shareholder Providence Equity Partners and Mexican broadcaster Televisa.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities are acting as lead book-running managers for the proposed IPO.

Univision noted in its SEC filing that there were currently 57 million US Hispanics, a number predicted to grow to 77 million by 2030.

The latter was yesterday announced to have extended its programming agreement with Univision for another five years, meaning Univision will get broadcast and digital rights to shows from the Mexican content giant.

This new agreement means Televisa will own approximately 22% of Univision voting stock, and that a new financial structure means Univision’s annual interest payments will fall by around US$16.9 million.

The deal began in 2010 when Televisa invested US$1.2 billion in Univision in part to help its fellow Hispanic American company get a handle on a large debt pile.

“By taking these steps and our pursuit of other related initiatives, Univision is in a stronger competitive position going forward,” said Falco.