The Regulatory Entity for Social Communications (ERC) announced that it opened a process to investigate possible powers of influence and the transparency of capital flows invested by Alpac Capital in Newsplex.
In a statement, the regulator states that the Regulatory Council “determined, on May 29, the opening of an unofficial investigation process to assess possible powers of influence and the transparency of capital flows invested by Alpac Capital in Newsplex, SA, owner of the publications ‘Nascer do Sol’, ‘I Inevitável’ and ‘Portugal de Amanhã'”.
Following the analysis carried out by ERC and the information made public in recent weeks, “as part of the acquisition of 91% of the capital and voting rights of Newsplex, SA, by Alpac Capital, in July 2022, it becomes relevant to assess the effective transparency of capital flows invested in the company that owns the aforementioned publications and the existence of possible powers of influence”.
The Regulatory Council “adopted this decision in the exercise of its regulatory and supervisory powers, considering in particular the obligations regarding the identification of powers of influence (al. q) no. 3 of article 24 of the ERC Statutes) and in compliance with the purposes of the Media Transparency Law (Law no. press, the defense of pluralism, diversity and editorial independence of social communication bodies from political and economic powers”.
