By Stuart Thomson

ALPAC Capital has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in international news channel Euronews.

The deal, originally announced in December 2021, was finalised following approval by the French ministry of the economy, finance and recovery.

ALPAC Capital, an investment fund manager based in Portugal, owned by Pedro Vargas David and Luís Santos, said it intended to deepen Euronews’ relationship with members of the European Parliament and the European Commission, and to further the outfit’s digitalisation and  diversification efforts.

“I am very pleased to see ALPAC acquire a stake in Euronews. We firmly believe in the need to amplify Euronews’ voice in the European media landscape, and even beyond the continent’s borders. Europe has experienced times of instability in the past decade: financial, sanitary and now military crises, which, not so long ago, would have been practically unthinkable. The European Union has thus played an even more central role in our lives. For the EU, as it is our wish, to be more efficient and strong, it must be even more democratic and responsible: none of this is possible without a strong and free press,” said Vargas David.

Euronews’ recently appointed CEO Guillaume Dubois, former CEO of BFM TV and Director of Broadcasting of LCI, said: “The new impetus given by the arrival of ALPAC Capital will allow Euronews to further develop and improve its television and digital offering.”

Separately, Portuguese journalist Graça Franco, former director of news at Rádio Renascença and ombudswoman at Portuguese pubcaster RTP, has been appointed chair of Euronews’ Editorial Council. The latter is responsible for discussing matters and studying actions and decisions relating to the editorial line and editorial quality of Euronews.