TV Azteca seems to be looking for an excuse not to pay its debts.
When announcing that it will begin a “voluntary” bankruptcy process, Ricardo Salinas‘ company said that it is insolvent and requires “judicial protection” to not pay its creditors.
The bankruptcy requires that the company lacks liquid assets to face at least 80 percent of its overdue obligations.
The current amount of TV Azteca’s total debt is not known, as the company has not published reports for years. At the end of 2022, however, he admitted: “TV Azteca has a debt as of December 31, 2022 equivalent to 9,449 million pesos, and there is no guarantee that market conditions will allow TV Azteca to refinance its existing debts upon maturity.” This amount, however, must already be substantially higher. For example, holders of debt issued by TV Azteca in New York, who have not received a single payment for five years, recently stated that the company owes them, between capital and interest, 580 million dollars, or more than 10.1 billion pesos. Another important debt, of 1,708 million pesos, was for a loan from Banco Azteca, guaranteed with the television station’s real estate and equipment, valued three years ago at around 2,600 million pesos.
There must also be debts with suppliers.
Cash and equivalents at TV Azteca’s disposal at the beginning of 2023 were 1.8 billion pesos, 32 percent less than a year earlier. Its main asset was radio broadcasting concessions, valued at 9,247 million pesos. In addition, TV Azteca owes 5,062 million pesos to the SAT for federal taxes, the payment of that debt was included in the Government’s agreement with Salinas to settle the pending taxes of all its companies.
