On November 15, Argentina’s Grupo Werthein issued a press release to announce the close of the transaction for the acquisition of 100% of the capital stock of Vrio division from AT&T. Vrio manages DirecTV Latin America, Sky Brasil and DirecTV Go. In this way, the Argentine group gains full control over the Pay TV company.

“The strength of Grupo Werthein’s operations and the transparency in the acquisition process allowed the transfer of Vrio to take place after the deal received the required approval from the regulatory entities of the countries of the region,” explained Werthein’s spokespeople. They asserted there would be no changes for subscribers. The deal, the amount of which has not been disclosed, had been announced on July 21, 2021.

Vrio provides Satellite TV services (DTH) through Sky in Brazil and through DirecTV in Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Curaçao, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. It also has a streaming platform, called DirecTV Go, by means of which it offers a TV Everywhere service for its Satellite TV business and an OTT Pay TV service in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. The deal includes the broadband assets owned by Vrio in the region and its stake in Torneos, an Argentine production company, and in Win Sports, a Colombian sports channel.

According to the press release, “Grupo Werthein is a private holding company with a business trajectory of more than 100 years in Latin America and internationally, with extensive experience in telecommunications, financial markets, insurance, agribusiness and real estate; Grupo Werthein has established a reputation in the market as a robust investor with a value proposition and innovation-based high growth projections”.