|
Headlines
Market news and breaking stories live from Dow Jones Newswires
Market Commentary
A technical analysis commentary of the major markets, only from INO
Smart Scan
A premium service, alerting you to changes in the market by web and email.
Extreme Futures / Stocks
Extreme Markets from all exchanges, updated throughout the trading day.
|
| |
|
Trade Triangle Technology, Advanced Charts, SmartScan, Trading Workshops.
The premier online video learning platform for traders.
Daily Portfolio Scan and Analysis
|
| |
|
DJ Argentina Investigates Top Paper Provider Amid Media Battle77 days ago
BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--In what's appears to be another salvo in the ongoing battle between the Argentine government and media conglomerate Grupo Clarin SA (GCLA.BA), Economy Minister Amado Boudou said Tuesday that he plans to seek a congressional inquiry into irregularities at the country's leading paper supplier for local dailies, Papel Prensa.
The group counts Clarin's unit AGEA as the leading shareholder, with the La Nacion newspaper and the federal government also holding significant stakes.
Boudou said that Papel Prensa appears to be abusing its dominant position in the market to discriminate against smaller newspapers. "We just want to put things into black and white," Boudou said.
Local daily Clarin said that the shift to Congress was a "new attack by the government against Papel Prensa."
The move follows a securities commission inquiry into violations of the commercial code due to the failure to record the minutes of a directors meeting on Nov. 4. Boudou sacked the head of the commission earlier this month, in a bid to make the organization "more active."
"We're sure to keep seeing lots of news about Papel Prensa," Boudou said Tuesday.
The assault against Clarin's dominant position in the local media sector has ramped up since June's midterm elections. President Cristina Fernandez and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, reportedly blame the negative coverage from Clarin's eponymous newspaper for losing their majority in both houses of Congress.
The company is "expecting more attacks from the Kirchner administration in the future," Chief Financial Officer Alejandro Urricelqui said during a conference call with investors on Nov. 11.
Urricelqui laid out a long list of abuses the company accuses the government of committing against the group, including intimidation, illegal surveillance of journalists' and executives' telephones and email, the blocking of newspaper deliveries, and a September raid of the group's offices and the homes of several executives by over 200 agents from the federal tax agency.
The government has also used a host of regulatory maneuvers to stymie the group's business operations.
Those include rejecting lease renewals for television and radio towers, encouraging the Argentine Football Association to terminate a broadcasting contract with Grupo Clarin in favor of a contract with the government and antitrust interference in the merger of Clarin's cable-TV operators Cablevision and Multicanal, approved in 2007.
Even more serious for Clarin's operations is the media reform law passed in October. A new regulatory authority will be set up, with members selected by the president. The law will limit the number of licenses held and the market share of each company as well as overlaps between broadcast and cable TV. It will also regulate content. The legislation will likely force Clarin to sell off some of its units.
-By Shane Romig, Dow Jones Newswires; 54-11-4103-6738; shane.romig@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2009 17:51 ET (22:51 GMT)
< Back to News Index
|
