Macau-based KNJ Investment, headed by local businessman Kevin Ho King Lun, has acquired a 30 percent stake in Portugal’s Global Media Group for 15 million euros (140 million patacas), the Portuguese radio channel of government-run local broadcaster TDM reported last night.
According to the report, Global Media Group’s ownership structure after the deal will consist of two shareholders each holding 30 percent (Ho’s KNJ Investment and Jose Pedro Soeiro), one holding 20 percent (Joaquim Oliveira), and two banks each holding 10 percent (BCP and Novo Banco). Soeiro and Oliveira are Portuguese businessmen.Local Portuguese journalist Paulo Rego will be a board member of Global Media Group on behalf of Ho, the report said.
Rego was quoted by the report as saying the fact that none of the shareholders will hold a controlling stake was “from the beginning the strategy” leading to the acquisition.
However, Rego stressed that the new shareholder (Ho’s KNJ Investment) would be “very influential” for bringing in new capital and a “new modernisation strategy”. Ho is a nephew of Macau’s first chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, now a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.
According to the report, the deal was finalised in Lisbon yesterday.
Global Media Group owns a number of print publications including newspapers and magazines as well as a radio station in Portugal. It is widely seen as one of the country’s most influential media groups.
