(dr) Fernando Negreira / circulodainovacao.pt
Impresa Building in Paço de Arcos.
The entry of MFE, owned by Pier Silvio Berlusconi, into the capital of the owner of Expresso and SIC should take place in 2025.
Negotiations between MediaForEurope (MFE), a group controlled by the Berlusconi family, and Impresa, owner of SIC and the weekly Expresso, have made significant progress in recent weeks and the deal should come to fruition by the end of the yearthe. According to , the objective is to complete the entry of MFE into the capital of Impresa, marking a new phase in the history of the group founded by Francisco Pinto Balsemão.
According to three sources cited by the newspaper, Impresa’s priority is, at this moment, to settle the details of Italian participation and the internal restructuring who will monitor the operation. Only then will the group move forward with more in-depth negotiations with the main bank creditors. Although the debt issue is considered central, there is still no agreement on possible “haircuts”, or reductions in value, with the banks.
The Portuguese group faces a delicate financial context. In the first half of 2025, losses worsened to 5.1 million euros, an increase justified in part by the costs of the ongoing restructuring. Without these extraordinary charges, the net result would have been negative at 3.9 milliona similar value to the previous year.
Despite the difficulties, sources linked to the process assure that Impresa will be able to reduce part of its debt in the short term, benefiting from an increase in advertising revenue this quarter.
MFE, which in 2021 integrated the operations of Mediaset Italy and Mediaset España, is currently led by Pier Silvio Berlusconison of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who passed away in 2023. The Italian group has been strengthening its European presence, having recently concluded the public takeover bid for the German company ProSiebenSat.1, now controlling around 75% of its capital.
At the end of September, Impresa officially confirmed negotiations with MFE for the sale of a “relevant position” in its capital.
Francisco Pedro Balsemão, current CEO of Impresa, had already publicly admitted the opening to the entry of external investors. “We are not closed to the entry of outside entities or people. If it’s a ‘win-win’ relationship‘, we don’t close that door”, he stated in September.
