Spanish broadcasting and media giant Prisa is to lay-off some 18 per cent of its staff, or around 2,500 people in a dramatic restructuring scheme. 2,000 of the headcount reduction will take place in Spain, and another 500 in Portugal and the Americas, says the company.

In addition to Spanish daily El Pais, Prisa (Promotora de Informaciones SA) owns major newspapers and interests in television, radio and digital platforms in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, where it generates about a fifth of its annual revenues.

In December, Prisa closed down its all news channel CNN+, a joint venture with Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner. The group said the new restructuring plan, which is to be implemented by the first quarter of 2012, is “aimed at safeguarding the greatest number of jobs and provides for a number of different measures, such as outsourcing, voluntary redundancy and early retirement.

Prisa is in the process of merging itself with John Malone’s Liberty operation. In a deal agreed in November 2010. Liberty Acquisition Holdings will take more than 50 per cent of Prisa in exchange for a cash injection into Prisa of some $860 million (€650m).

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