Slovak media under the influence of financial groups

Oligarchs and financial groups may significantly boost their position on the Slovak mass media market following reports that the TV channel Markíza along with Pravda and Nový Čas dailies have been put up for sale. The SME daily reported on Thursday that the financial group Penta, which owns shares in some Slovak media, has previously admitted to its interest in acquiring TV Markíza. The channel is reportedly up for grabs in a package together with Czech TV Nova and Romanian and Bulgarian television channels that are all currently owned by the Time Warner-backed CME. Besides Penta, a few more business heavyweights would allegedly like to purchase Markíza, with the list including Czech politician and businessman Andrej Babiš, owner of investment group PPF Group Petr Kellner, and Chinese conglomerate CEFC, which has a stake in J&T Finance Group.