The Sawiris family is selling its majority stake in Euronews to investment firm Alpac Capital, the loss-making broadcaster said in a statement on Friday. The Portuguese firm has signed a binding offer to buy an 88% stake in Euronews owned by the Sawiris family’s Media Globe Networks (MGN) for an undisclosed amount.

The transaction is set to be finalized during 1Q2022. The remaining 12% stake in Euronews will continue to be held by a consortium of public broadcasters and local authorities that includes France Televisions, Italy's RAI and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Company (ADMIC), though that could change as Euronews looks to tap new capital, Reuters reported, citing Euronews chief exec Michael Peters.

The company’s structure will undergo a revamp: The acquisition will see the broadcaster replace its supervisory board, currently chaired by Naguib Sawiris, with a board of directors headed by Peters. Sawiris in November announced his intention to divest from the struggling broadcaster, which the family first took control of in 2015.

Euronews is trying to claw back pandemic-era losses: The company’s total sales dropped by 23% y-o-y to EUR 58 mn in 2020, leading to losses of EUR 16 mn, Peters told Reuters. Revenue diversification should see those losses narrow by half in 2022, he said, while the company is aiming to break even in 2023, according to the statement.