Goodbye to the Antena 3-LaSexta merger?

LaSexta, in a statement announcing the appointment of Alejandro Martínez, replacing Giovanni Rier, at the head of its commercial manager Publiseis, assures that, with the operation ruled out, a new solo stage begins.

After the harsh conditions imposed by the National Competition Commission on the merger of Antena 3 with LaSexta, everything seems to indicate that the network controlled by Mediapro would be willing to throw in the towel while the group controlled by Planeta does not lose hope

LaSexta, in a statement issued this Thursday in which it announced the appointment of Alejandro Martínez, replacing Giovanni Rier, at the head of its commercial manager Publiseis, assured that, with the operation ruled out, a new solo stage begins.

In its statement, LaSexta maintains that "Martínez takes on the challenge of relaunching the company in this new stage of LaSexta alone, once the merger process with other operators has been ruled out."

But, is this a withdrawal when assuming that its integration with Antena 3 is not viable with the conditions set by Competition or is it an order to this body?

Although both networks announced that they would exhaust all avenues of recourse at their disposal, opening a judicial path could prolong the process and definitively condition the future of the merger.

Both Antena 3 and LaSexta are currently moving the needle so that the Government, via the Council of Ministers, could soften the conditions.

Antena 3 hopes that the Ministry of Economy will decide next Tuesday, July 31, whether the merger of its group with La Sexta is a matter of general interest and, therefore, the resolution of the National Competition Commission (CNC), which has imposed conditions on the operation, has to be sent to the Council of Ministers for study, as indicated by the CEO of Antena 3, Silvio González.

Before the end of the month, Economía must decide whether or not to accept the appeal raised by both Antena 3 and LaSexta and send the CNC's resolution to the Council of Ministers. If it does so, the Council of Ministers will have one month to modify or maintain the conditions imposed by Competition on the merger.

Antena 3 maintains that if the competition conditions were finally maintained, the merger process would not be viable.