Italian MFE in talks on possible purchase of stake in Portugal's Impresa

LISBON (Reuters) -MFE-MediaForEurope, the TV group controlled by Italy's Berlusconi family, is in exclusive talks on the purchase of a relevant stake in the Portuguese media group Impresa, Impresa said on Saturday.

It said in a statement the Balseger holding company of Portuguese media tycoon Francisco Pinto Balsemao, which controls more than 50% of Impresa, is in contact, "exclusively with MFE, to evaluate the acquisition of a relevant stake".

The statement added, however, there was "no binding agreement".

In recent years, Portuguese media has reported rumours that the Berlusconi family is interested in Impresa, which owns broadcaster SIC and the weekly newspaper Expresso.

 MFE, which already had TV operations in Italy and Spain, three weeks ago secured more than 75% of German peer ProSiebenSat.1.

In 2024, Impresa posted a loss of 66.2 million euros ($77.46 million) after significant impairment charges, well above the 2 million euros loss the previous year.

It reported revenues of 182.3 million euros last year, in line with 2023, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation rose 19.5% to 18.4 million euros.

($1 = 0.8546 euros)

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Barbara Lewis)