Argentine Werthein family to buy DirecTV and Sky’s Latin American operations from AT&T

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Argentina’s Grupo Werthein reached an agreement on Wednesday (21) to buy Dallas Texas-based Vrio Corp., which manages the digital entertainment services of DirecTV and Sky, with operations in 11 Latin American countries, from the U.S. company AT&T.

In a joint statement, both companies indicated that Grupo Werthein, with assets in various sectors, agreed to acquire 100% of the capital of Vrio, which offers live and on-demand content services through DirecTV Latin America, Sky Brazil, and DirecTV Go.

The companies expect the transaction to close in early 2022.

“Our vision for the future will be to care for and leverage the leading entertainment brands, maintain their leadership and grow in the value proposition, investing in technology and content, aligned with the habits of each of our subscribers and especially, of the new generations,” said Dario Werthein, shareholder of Werthein Group.

Vrio offers content in Brazil through the Sky brand and in Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Curacao, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay through the DirecTv brand.

It also operates DirecTV Go, a subscription service that provides online access to various live and on-demand programming in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay.

With nearly 9,000 employees, Viro offers content to some 10.3 million subscribers in eleven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The agreement announced Wednesday also includes the transfer to Grupo Werthein of Torneos y Competencias (TyC), an Argentinean producer of audiovisual content and broadcasting of sporting events, and WIN Sports, a sports subscription television channel in Colombia.

“Vrio has a team of collaborators with a high level of professionalism and dedication, and we look forward to continuing to work with them. We are confident that they will maintain their commitment to commercial success, customer satisfaction, and excellent service,” said Werthein.

For her part, AT&T Latin America CEO Lori Lee said the U.S. company would maintain its commitment to Latin America through its “wireless business in Mexico and services for multinational corporations operating in the region.”

WHO IS THE WERTHEIN GROUP?

The Grupo Werthein is a holding company based in Argentina founded by Leon Werthein, who emigrated in 1904 to Argentina from Russia, following difficult times in that empire, especially for Jewish people. The family settled in the interior and started out from scratch.

Numerous holdings of the Wertheins are managed under the Los W Group. The group is a private holding company that owns and manages a well-diversified portfolio of companies in Argentina, with total revenues of approx. US$4,2 billion and 21.500 employees.

In 2020, Forbes estimated the family’s wealth at US$$1.9 billion.

During the 20th century, Los W Group has successfully invested in agribusiness, telecommunications, financial services, gas and energy distribution, oil & gas, textile, vineyards, and real estate.

Los W has become a prestigious and well-known group within the Argentine business community due to its strong local presence, excellent track record, experience in several industries, and a persistent low profile.

Among many other assets, the group is a shareholder, along with Telecom Italia, of Sofora Telecomunicaciones S.A., which controls Telecom Argentina. Under its umbrella, the Argentine company provides fixed voice (Telecom Argentina), fixed data services, and Internet (Arnet) and mobile services (Telecom Personal). Additionally, they control 67% of the mobile services brand Núcleo in Paraguay.

THE WERTHEIN STORY

The Werthein family, headed by Leon Werthein, his wife Raquel had five children emigrated to Argentina from Bessarabia in 1904 and settled in rural Miguel Riglos, La Pampa Province.

Three of Leon Werthein’s sons, Gregorio, Numo, and Noel (1911–2002), started a company in 1928 dedicated to managing agribusiness and have maintained farming interests in Argentina ever since. Gregorio, Numo y Noel Werthein SA was founded in 1959 and includes extensive agricultural and fruit processing holdings.

Its agricultural holdings include over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of land and over 45,000 cattle, distributed in the Provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, and San Luis.

They produce wheat, corn, sunflowers, soybeans, cotton, popcorn, candy, sunflower oil, black beans, red beans, and beef, as well as a Ranch division that specializes in developing high-quality genetics in the following breeds of cattle: Angus and Hereford (south), Brangus and Bradford (North).

The fruit area produces apples, pears, peaches, apricots, strawberries, and plums in dried form and fruit juice concentrate.

Julio Werthein (born April 7, 1918) has been involved in the Argentine banking sector since 1940. In 1963 Julio Werthein and his brothers established the Banco Mercantil Argentino.

This bank was founded on September 18, 1928, as Banco Israelita Argentino SA and renamed Banco Mercantil Argentino SA on October 4, 1940. In 1998, the Banco Mercantil Argentino, with Banco Caja de Ahorro (Savings Bank), merged.

In 2000, Banco SUDAMERIS Argentina acquired the Banco Caja de Ahorro. After several subsequent mergers and organizational reforms, the Banco Mercantil is now the new Banco Patagonia, though the Werthein family no longer holds shares therein.

In 1995, the Fundacion Banco Mercantil Argentino was established to support music, literature, and fine arts.

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