| Type | Public: LSE: GCLA MERVAL: GCLA |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Key people | Ernestina Herrera de Noble (Chairperson) Héctor Magnetto (CEO) |
| Products | Newspapers Newsprint Cable television Radio broadcasting Internet service |
| Revenue | US$ 25.1 billion (2010) |
| Net income | US$ 8.1 billion (2009) |
| Total assets | US$ 52.8 billion (2009) |
| Employees | 7,000 |
| Website | www.grupoclarin.com |
Grupo Clarín (LSE: GCLA) is the largest media conglomerate of Argentina.
Established as such in 1999, it includes the Clarín newspaper (the most-widely circulated in Latin America), Papel Prensa (the nation's principal newsprint manufacturer), the Artear media company, and numerous other media outlets.[1]
Rooted in the successful, 1945 launch of the centrist daily, Clarín, by the late Roberto Noble, the group is active within the publishing, newspaper, television, radio, and telecommunications industries. Its largest shareholder is Ernestina Herrera de Noble. Other major shareholders include Héctor Magnetto, José Antonio Aranda, Lucio Rafael Pagliaro, and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. Magnetto is the President and CEO of the media group, while Ernestina Herrera de Noble directs the flagship Clarín newspaper.
Having become the largest newspaper distributor in the Spanish-speaking world by 1980 (when its revenues topped US$900 million and 1.1 billion),[1] the group diversified itself significantly in 1990, when it entered into television sector with the acquisition of Channel 13, and into radio with the purchase of Radio Mitre. Following the expansion into cable television in 1992 (Multicanal), Todo Noticias, the group's cable news channel, was established in 1993 and remains one of the most influential in its sector. The conglomerate also controls Patagonik Film Group and numerous regional newspapers (notably Los Andes of Mendoza and La Voz del Interior of Córdoba).[1]
Grupo Clarín was listed in the Buenos Aires and London Stock Exchanges in 2007, upon which a 20% share in the group was made available to stockholders (leaving 9% for Goldman Sachs, and 71% for its private shareholders).[2] The group's revenues in 2009 were accounted for mainly by its cable television units (principally Cablevisión and Multicanal), which accounted for 60% of sales. Its numerous publishing interests netted 22% of the total, and rights to broadcasting, programming and digital content accounted for most of the remainder.[3]