Prisa Surges as Telefonica Said to Near Pay-TV Purchase

Promotora de Informaciones SA jumped 14 percent as Telefonica SA is nearing an agreement to buy a controlling stake in the media company’s pay-TV business for about 800 million euros ($1.1 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.

Telefonica, Spain’s biggest phone company, may pay for Prisa’s 56 percent stake in DTS Distribuidora de Television Digital SA with cash, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. While a final agreement may be imminent, the media company still needs to give final approval for the deal, one of the people said. Madrid-based Telefonica was competing with bidders including Al Jazeera, the people said.