Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris sold Euronews to a firm now buying Serbia's last independent media

When Naguib Sawiris sold his 88 percent stake in Euronews to Portuguese investment firm Alpac Capital in December 2021, the Egyptian telecoms billionaire collected the proceeds from a media investment that had consistently lost money since he acquired a majority in the pan-European broadcaster in 2015. He walked away. Alpac Capital walked in.

Four and a half years later, the firm he sold Euronews to is making its next move on European media. Alpac Capital is in advanced negotiations to acquire United Group's regional media portfolio in the Western Balkans, a transaction that would deliver Serbia's N1 television, Nova S, and affiliated independent outlets in Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina into the hands of a firm whose ties to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have raised persistent alarms among press freedom advocates across Europe.

The final version of the purchase agreement, which has not been signed, was reported by Serbian investigative outlet Raskrikavanje. Under its terms, Alpac Capital's Luxembourg-based vehicle European Future Media Investments would pay just 30 million euros for a media portfolio that includes some of the most credible independent journalism operations in the Western Balkans. The assets would be consolidated under a newly structured entity called Adria News before the transaction closes. Antitrust regulators in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina must approve the deal, alongside the Luxembourg Ministry of Media, which is required to consent to Alpac as new owner.

N1, which broadcasts across Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, and Nova S in Serbia, have built their reputations over more than a decade on investigative reporting and critical coverage of governments in countries where independent journalism operates under sustained political and commercial pressure. Their combination into a single holding controlled by Alpac Capital has alarmed journalists, civil society organisations and media watchdogs who fear another independent media institution in the region will fall under the indirect influence of governments hostile to critical reporting.

Alpac Capital's chief executive is Pedro Vargas David, the son of Mario David, a Portuguese politician and long-standing adviser to Viktor Orban. The firm has an office in Budapest and has received capital from Hungarian corporations, some linked to Orban's ruling Fidesz party. Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto promoted the launch of an Alpac investment fund aimed at regional investments in 2017. After Alpac acquired Euronews from Sawiris, three people handpicked by the firm were immediately included in the channel's editorial board, despite Euronews having said there was no risk to editorial independence.

Sawiris, who built his media position in Euronews through his Luxembourg-based Media Globe Networks and had previously bought NBC News's 25 percent stake in 2020, generated no profit from the investment. The sale to Alpac in 2021 ended his European broadcasting experiment and left him free to concentrate on his other investments across telecoms, mining, real estate and hotels.