Telefonica sells 7.08% stake in El Pais owner Prisa for 34 million euros

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish telecom firm Telefonica said on Thursday it agreed to sell a 7.08% stake in the media group Prisa, the publisher of El Pais newspaper, for 34 million euros.

Telefonica agreed to sell the stake with a 17% premium over the closing price on Wednesday to privately held Spanish firm Global Alconaba. Telefonica will retain a 1.95% stake in Prisa, it said in a filing to the stock market regulator.

Prisa, which owns the influential newspaper El Pais, has recently posted a small quarterly profit after posting losses in 2021.

The main shareholder in Prisa is activist fund Amber Capital, led by French investor Joseph Oughourlian, with a 29.84% stake, Refinitiv Eikon information shows.

French media group Vivendi holds a 9.94% stake.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Christina Thykjaer; Editing by Edmund Blair)