Roures exits Mediapro
October 30, 2023
Mediapro, the sports rights and broadcast production group based in Spain, has confirmed that founding member and managing partner Jaume Roures will leave the company after nearly three decades. His exit came at the request of Mediapro majority shareholder Southwind Group, which controls over 80 per cent of the group, as well as minority shareholder WPP
Mediapro will now be led solely by fellow founding member Tatxo Benet, who retains his position as president and CEO.
Benet commented: “Mediapro has become a great company, a resilient company that has always known how to overcome any new challenge. The entire management team and the 7,000 people in the group will continue to do so with the same efficiency, effectiveness, and dedication. The management team and its CEO are fully aligned with the group’s shareholder partners, Southwind and WPP, with whom we wholeheartedly share the company’s future vision. In this regard, there has not only been no disagreement about the future model, but there has also been no change in the foundational project or the values the group represents. And there won’t be any changes as long as this management team is here, because it’s this team that has implemented them for thirty years, and because our shareholders share our project and values, which were key when evaluating their investment in Mediapro. No one has changed them, and no one wants to change them.”
Benet added: “The inspiration and legacy that Jaume leaves behind are an irreplaceable part of Mediapro’s DNA and will always be present in this company’s work, reminding us that people come first, that we should never give up on our ideas and dreams, and that working as Jaume did, we will continue to achieve everything we pursue, no matter how challenging it seems, without fear being an obstacle to what talent and effort set as our goal. We are now celebrating 30 years of existence, and everyone, absolutely everyone – shareholders, the CEO, the management team and all the people that make up the group – are aligned and committed to experiencing another thirty years, at least, with the same success that we have had up to now.”
In an interview with El món, Roures said the decision to leave Mediapro was not his, commenting: “I am not dissociating myself from Mediapro, they are taking away my responsibility.
Roures added that Mediapro offered him a director tole, but he had “no interest in being a director of anything”. He also revealed he intends to sell his five per cent share in the company.