New Independent Directors Named to Univision Board

Searchlight Capital Partners, LP (“Searchlight”), a global private investment firm and ForgeLight LLC (“ForgeLight”), an operating and investment company focused on the media and consumer technology sectors, and Grupo Televisa SAB (“Televisa”), a leading media company in the Spanish-speaking world, announced the appointment of independent members to a reconstituted Board of Directors for Univision Holdings, Inc. (“Univision”), the leading U.S. Hispanic media company. The new Board will take effect upon the close of the previously announced acquisition of a majority ownership interest in Univision, expected to take place by the end of this year.
 
The independent directors consist of four leading U.S. Hispanic business leaders who collectively possess a deep understanding of Univision’s U.S. Spanish-speaking audiences and the communities the company serves, backed by substantial financial and operational expertise across a variety of sectors. This new Board, after closing, will help oversee Univision’s strategy as it builds on recent content and programming momentum, expands its portfolio of advertising products, substantially enhances its digital presence, and features content through its continued partnership with Televisa.
 
The new directors include:

•     Marcelo Claure, Chief Executive Officer of Softbank Group International and Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Group Corp;
•     Oscar Munoz, Executive Chairman of United Airlines Holdings, Inc.;
•     María Cristina “MC” González Noguera, Senior Vice President of Global Public Affairs for The Estée Lauder Companies; and
•     Gisel Ruiz, a 26-year veteran of Walmart Inc., having served most recently as Chief Operating Officer of Sam’s Club.

“These four directors are among the most prominent and accomplished business leaders in America today and we are honored they have agreed to join us in driving the next phase of growth for Univision,” said Wade Davis, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of ForgeLight and who will serve as Univision’s CEO when the acquisition closes. “We worked extremely hard to recruit the most value-added and complementary directors to significantly expand the Board’s governance so it is representative of the community Univision serves. All four of these new directors bring a passion for our mission. They understand Univision’s extraordinary potential as a platform to drive innovation, build market-defining content and deepen its relationship with one of the most important audiences in the United States.”
 
Eric Zinterhofer, Founding Partner of Searchlight, added, “The new Univision Board brings together an impressive group of individuals with complementary backgrounds underpinned by substantial strategic and operational expertise. On behalf of Univision’s new ownership group, I want to thank the outgoing Board for its service and leadership, which have been instrumental to establishing Univision’s track record of success in serving the U.S. Hispanic community.”
 
The new Board members will join representatives of ForgeLight, Searchlight and Televisa, which will remain a significant Univision shareholder, on the Board. Those members will be named at a later date.
 
Bernardo Gómez Martínez and Alfonso de Angoitia, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Televisa, said, “We are pleased that such a distinguished group of leaders, that are representationally reflective of Univision’s majority Hispanic audience, will be joining the company’s Board. It is the best Board that the Company has had in its history. Televisa looks forward to building on its successful partnership with Univision to continue providing innovative, high-quality content to a growing Spanish-language demographic in the United States.”