Poland's Agora in news channel due diligence-agency

Polish media group Agora AGOD.WA is conducting due diligence in a local news channel Superstacja, local newswire PAP reported on Friday, citing a person close to the station.

"I know that Agora is conducting a due dilligence in the company," Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, whose firm controls half of Superstacja, told the agency. Agora declined comment.

Agora, which publishes one of Poland's leading dailies Gazeta Wyborcza, has declined to comment on media speculation it may pay around 30 million zlotys ($12.6 million) for a stake in Superstacja to gain a foothold in the television market.

Agora may seek to buy a third of Superstacja and eventually take over the company, according to media reports.

The company, which is present in all media segments outside television, has amassed a war chest of almost $500 million to decrease its dependence on the slow-growing newspaper advertising market.

Superstacja is seeking to compete in an increasingly crowded news market with TVN TVNN.WA and the recently launched news channel of unlisted broadcaster Polsat, also controlled by Solorz-Zak.
Source: By Adrian Krajewski, David Holmes