> History

The Media Capital Group was established as a publisher of print media in 1992. In the following years, the Group acquired a number of publications that were characterised by strong brand names and significant circulations. These publications included “O Independente”, a weekly newspaper that covered major political and business news of the week.

The Group's first significant investment in other forms of media occurred in 1997 when it acquired Rádio Comercial, and Rádio Nostalgia. In 1998, the Group made a strategic investment in television broadcasting by acquiring a 30% interest in TVI, leading the tv channel to improve its results and profitability. From 1999 to 2003, the Group also expanded its radio operations, diversified further into outdoor advertising and launched its Internet business creating the IOL brand in 2000.

The acquisition of NBP in 2001 consolidated the Group’s position in the television market as a whole, with a strong investment on the production of fictional contents in Portuguese. In 2003, Media Capital entered the movie distribution business (activity discontinued in the end of 2011) and, after acquiring Farol Musica, became one of the major players in the music editing and record distribution business in Portugal.

The year of 2004 was marked by the preparation of the company for public quotation and subsequent listing of the company’s shares on Euronext Lisbon (closed on March 30, 2004). In November 2005, Grupo Prisa became the largest shareholder of Grupo Media Capital. In the beginning of 2007, and following the outcome of the Tender Offer bid launched in October 2006, Grupo Prisa’s shareholding position increased to 73.7%, after acquiring RTL Group’s stake.

In 2008 Media Capital sold its press business unit to Progresa (also owned by Grupo Prisa) and, at the end of the year, acquired Plural Espanha that, along with NBP, originated Plural Entertainment, one of the major content producers in Portuguese and Spanish, thus reinforcing its investment in the production and distribution of differentiated quality contents.

With operations in 22 countries, Prisa in one of the leading media groups in the Iberian market.