Nicolás Maduro was at his peak last Friday. He stated, “People who don’t live in Venezuela should be prohibited from owning a media outlet. I think it’s a good idea, and it should be studied.” Translation: “There should be a ban on those who don’t reside in Venezuela owning media outlets.” Listen to it from the horse’s mouth in the video below.
Maduro is a disgrace to himself. Less than four months ago, he approved the sale of Cadena Capriles to Hanson Asset Management, a London-based investment firm:
Last Friday, the new board of Cadena Capriles, a media conglomerate that includes the largest newspaper in Venezuela, announced that a company called Latam Media Holding had recently acquired Cadena Capriles. This announcement came after a previous one made about five months ago by the former CEO and owner Miguel Ángel Capriles López (commonly known as “Michu”), who claimed the group had been sold. The new board reported that Latam Media Group is owned by Hanson Asset Management, based in London. The board now includes René Brillembourg Capriles, Robert Hanson, Patrick Teroerde, Manuel A. Cristóbal Saucedo, Juan Isidro Señor Boguña, Pedro Rendón Oropeza, José Antonio Gil Yépez, Diego Lepage Gimón, Ricardo Castellanos (current CEO of Cadena Capriles), Eleazar Díaz Rangel (editor of Últimas Noticias), Omar Lugo (editor of El Mundo Economía y Negocios), and Jován Pulgarín (editor of Líder).
Several issues regarding this acquisition warrant closer examination. The first is the announcement made five months ago by the former owner and CEO. At that time, Caracas was buzzing with rumors about the buying group, with most pointing towards Víctor Vargas [a Chavista banker who owns Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD)]. However, Vargas stated via social media that neither he nor his companies were behind the purchase, claiming that “it is false that BOD or Víctor Vargas has bought Cadena Capriles. We have no interest and it’s not permitted by the Bank.”
In fact, Article 19 of the Banking Law explicitly prohibits banks/bankers from engaging in “communication, telecommunications, and information” matters. Cadena Capriles, with its newspaper, radio, and online TV ventures, is, for all intents and purposes, a conglomerate of “communication, telecommunications, and information.”
But there’s more. Two trusted men of Víctor Vargas are part of the new board (Diego Lepage and Pedro Rendón Mendoza). Additionally, the board announced that Vargas’s BOD would finance—at a sum of $79.5 million—the “new businesses, products, and services of Cadena Capriles.”
Latam Media Holding is supposed to be the new owner, a company with “2000 shares with a nominal value of 0.01 US dollars” incorporated in Curaçao on September 26, 2013. The only director of Latam Media Holding is TMF Curaçao NV, which is a “50 share(s) with a nominal value of 1,000 Antillean Guilders” company acting as a representative (none of its officers are Venezuelan).
The board informed that Latam Media Holding was owned by “Hanson Group” (meaning Hanson Asset Management), supposedly an “English company with interests in Europe, Asia, and America.” Robert Hanson, founder and CEO of Hanson Asset Management, is part of the new board, as is Patrick Teroerde, a German national working for Hanson.
According to Companies House records, Hanson Asset Management had a meager turnover of £769,433 in 2012, while its total asset value was £395,016.
There is much speculation about the price paid for the acquisition (rumors place it between $140 and $185 million). Hence, it’s surprising how a company with such low numbers can acquire one of the largest media conglomerates in Venezuela. But it goes further, as the Telecommunications Law (Article 19) limits foreign investment in the open radio and television spectrum to individuals/companies domiciled in Venezuela. As noted, Cadena Capriles operates radio and online TV, so the Telecommunications Law applies to some of its operations.
Finally, there is Decree 2095, which addresses foreign investment and whose Article 26 explicitly prohibits foreign ownership of “television, radio, and newspapers written in Spanish.”
So, what to make of this acquisition? If the announcement from the new board has any truth, why has Hanson Asset Management not commented on it? As of writing this article, there was no online announcement or press release regarding this. A small company from London, which made less than a million pounds last year, snatches the largest newspaper in Venezuela and other media companies, yet doesn’t brag about it? Nearly five months have passed since the former CEO’s announcement and that of the new board last Friday, and still, there is no news from Hanson Asset Management.
Hanson Asset Management is an English company; its subsidiary Latam Media Holding was incorporated in Curaçao and none of its representatives are Venezuelan. Which Venezuelan regulator approved the sale of Cadena Capriles to a foreign group in blatant violation of current laws? Where did Hanson Asset Management find between $140 and $185 million to acquire Cadena Capriles? Who financed the acquisition? What due diligence did Robert Hanson et al. conduct to ensure the legitimacy of the funds used in the transaction? How and when will Hanson Asset Management report on this acquisition? How will it appear in their books?
This maneuver seems like an elaborate way to conceal the new controlling party of Cadena Capriles. The board’s chairman, Carlos Acosta López, is/was a partner of Juan Carlos Escotet (Chavista banker owner of BANESCO) who has been a partner of Michu since Bancentro; René Brillemburg is Michu’s nephew, Juan Isidro Señor Boguña is VP of a consultancy owned by Juan Antonio Giner (Michu’s advisor), while Lepage and Rendón are employees of Víctor Vargas.
But there’s also the über Chavista and current Minister of Communications Delcy Rodríguez, privately claiming that Tareck el Aissami (Chavista governor of Aragua and former minister) is the new owner, with “bankers” and businessmen merely facades to hide the reality.
What is really astonishing is the near-absolute silence from the media regarding the news in MSM in English. A clear sign of Venezuela’s total irrelevance. A request for comments sent to Hanson Asset Management in London has gone unanswered. One must wonder if they are aware of the implications of dealings with Aissami…
And it’s worth repeating: Cadena Capriles owns the most-read newspapers in Venezuela, namely, Últimas Noticias and El Mundo. Given the numerous violations of existing legislation, Maduro must have given the green light for the acquisition. The Chavista “banker” Víctor Vargas is part of the deal (two of his trusted aides sit on the new board, and Cadena Capriles’ staff has already moved to Vargas’s Banco Occidental de Descuento), despite the explicit prohibition in the current Banking Law for bankers to own media. Hanson Asset Management is set to own Cadena Capriles, despite the clear prohibitions in the current Telecommunications Law and Decree 2095 preventing foreigners from owning radio, television, and printed newspapers in Spanish (Cadena Capriles operates in all three areas).
So, what to make of Maduro’s statements? Sources have informed me that Maduro is actively seeking to “acquire” El Universal, the last independent national newspaper, owned by Andrés Mata (who lives in New York). Maduro, through his Minister of Information (Delcy Rodríguez), is testing the waters to reach Mata. Maduro has no issues with Hanson Asset Management (no more than the proxies of Víctor Vargas, Miguel Ángel Capriles López, and Tareck el Aissami) owning a conglomerate of newspapers that prints perhaps three times the amount of El Universal. Rather, the issue is to gain control of the last independent newspaper in the city.