Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) canceled plans for an initial public offering (IPO) this week and named a new chief financial officer.
Current deputy CFO Peter Lori will immediately take over as CFO for the Spanish-language broadcasting giant, with CFO Frank Lopez Balboa leaving the company.
Balboa was hired in 2015 to lead the company’s IPO quest. UCI recruited him from Goldman Sachs rather than promoting Lori, who was serving as interim CFO at the time. Now, the more than six-year campaign for an IPO is on the shelf.
This week, UCI requested withdrawal of its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the proposed initial public offering of stock shares. The company cited prevailing market conditions as the reason.
Paperwork from the IPO request back in 2015 showed multimillion dollar losses. While Univision reported a $104 million dollar profit last quarter, the network will miss out on key advertising revenue this year by losing World Cup broadcast rights to rival network Telemundo.
“Pete has been a critical member of our senior finance team for the last 13 years, and has the right combination of corporate finance and accounting expertise, clear leadership skills and deep knowledge of our company to drive financial growth at UCI,” UCI President and CEO Randy Falco said. “He has been instrumental in helping us to reduce our debt and improve our capital structure, and we are confident our finance organization will continue to thrive under his leadership.”
Lori joined Univision in 2005 and has worked in several senior management roles.
UCI was founded in 1962 and has grown into a multimedia company that includes 16 broadcast and cable networks and 61 television stations, plus digital and mobile platforms.
