The Board of Directors of Mediapro has today approved the dismissal of Jaume Roures as managing partner of the company at the request of its majority partner, the Chinese group Southwind Media. In addition, it has ratified Tatxo Benet, also a managing partner, in his positions as president and CEO. The rest of the members of the management team will continue with the company.
The statement highlights that Roures and Benet "have been key players in the evolution of not only the Mediapro group, but have also been world leaders in the audiovisual sector." Likewise, Benet has come out against the speculation that placed the origin of the departure of Roures, the most visible face of the group in the last three decades, in the disagreements with the shareholder Southwind Media, with whom he has assured that they share "without fissures" "the company's future project. "There is not, in this sense, the slightest disagreement," he stated.
According to Benet, the management team and its CEO are "totally aligned" with the shareholder partners of the Southwind group and WPP. "Not only have there been no discrepancies in the future model, but there has not been the slightest change in either the founding project or the values that the group represents," the statement reads.
The company's CEO also dedicated a few words to Roures. "The inspiration and legacy that Jaume leaves us are an irreplaceable part of Grupo Mediapro's DNA and will always remain present in the work of this company, reminding us that people come first, that we must never give up on our ideas and dreams, that working as Jaume has done it, we will continue to achieve everything we pursue, no matter how difficult it may seem, without fear being a brake on what talent and effort set as our goal," he commented.
Roures' separation from the company will not be total for now, since he maintains a representative 5% stake in its capital. 85% belongs to Southwind Media, while the rest is owned by the British multinational WPP (5%) and Tatxo Benet (5%).
The audiovisual services firm, created in Barcelona in 1994, employs more than 7,000 people, more than half in Spain. The group's large business units - Broadcast and Media Service, The Mediapro Studio, Audiovisual Rights Management and Innovation and New Audiences - invoiced 1,209 million euros last year, with an EBITDA of 190 million.
