In July, Univision filed plans for its IPO with the SEC, disclosing financials, including the multi-million dollar losses stemming from Fusion and El Rey Network, indicating the company was moving forward with its plans for an IPO at the end of 2015.
But according to a Wall Street Journal report, Univision’s board met yesterday and discussed postponing the IPO until early next year due to market concerns, including “lackluster recent performance of media-company stocks and a sluggish market for first-time share sales.”
An interest rate hike is also cause for investors to worry, because Univision is still carrying a huge debt load from 2007, when a group of private equity owners led by billionaire Haim Saban bought the company for $13.7 billion.
An increase in interest rates could make that debt load more expensive and harder to refinance.
The group that owns Univision, which also includes Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG and Thomas H. Lee Partners, has been trying to cash out for years – first looking to sell the company, and in the past three years, exploring the IPO.
In preparation for the IPO, Univision has been restructuring, shedding staff and cutting costs throughout the company.