The sale of Radio Continental continues to mark a soap opera with uncertain implications, taking into account that there are several interested parties in buying the station that is precariously owned by Carlos Rosales.
Its about same businessman who owns the Garbarino appliance chain which, after having been one of the main brands in this sector together with Frávega, is today reduced to an internet portal that offers online sales.
The commercial history of Radio Continental
Rosales is, for now, the owner of Continental but This scenario may change soon, Since until now the owner of the insurance company Grupo Prof must wait for an official ruling to know if the papers he presented to the regulatory authorities of the area to ratify his ownership of the station were approved.
The businessman, and also former treasurer of the San Lorenzo de Almagro Club during the management of Matías Lammens, It closed the purchase of the station in mid-2021 from the Spanish group Prisa who, with this operation, left Argentina.
For Rosales, the operation marked his landing in the media business with an agreement that also included AM 590, FM 104.3 and 105.5 (“Los 40 Principales”), and their digital platforms.
In the case of Prisa, when it sold the station it was positioned as one of the main multimedia groups in the world that in Spain controls the newspaper El País and the sports morning newspaper AS, along with Cadena Ser, in addition to 1,200 radio stations spread across Europe and America. Latina, among which Caracol and W Radio stand out.
The owner of Garbarino is also waiting for ENACOM’s decision on whether or not to endorse the papers that show that he owns Continental.
Waiting for “transparency”
The operation went through several stages because – last April – the National Communications Entity (ENACOM) demanded that Rosales present a series of documents to put an end to the transfer.
At that time, and after a resolution from the entity on October 10, 2023, Rosales complied and normalized his presence in the station as the sole owner.
This avoided the threat of “warning contained in the latest standard”, put it above the Prisa group and prevented ENACOM from opening a process called “exploitation delegation” that could have ended in the expiration of the license.
Likewise, in the entity that is currently under intervention and whose owner is Juan Martín Ozores along with his deputies, Patricia Zulema Roldan and Alejandro Pereyra, they continue analyzing the case and do not rule out canceling the operation and putting out to tender the frequency, as has already happened. in the cases of Radio América and Radio El Mundo.
Radio Continental, in crisis and with a “special” interested party
This complicated and conflictive scenario delays Rosales’ departure from Continental, which is currently suffers a union strike of operators that They are demanding back salaries, since the groups and businessmen who have been showing interest in the station are slowing down the momentum until the situation becomes clearer.
One of them is Marcelo Fígoli, owner of Alpha Media, a group that controls several radio stations such as Rivadavia; Cologne; Meter; Rock pop; Blue; Splendid, in addition to the Noticias Argentinas agency.
Radio Continental also attracts the attention of other media entrepreneurs such as Marcelo Fígoli, owner of Alpha Group
Independently, The businessman is also the owner of the production company Fenix Entertainment and Parque de la Costa, and has been showing intentions not only to buy Continental but also Telefé.
So far, his intentions have not materialized, taking into account the absence of concise information on the transparency of Continental’s ownership and if he is not assured that the transaction will not later be challenged and there will be a tender.
However, another businessman with a particular and suspicious resume has just appeared who sent emissaries to the Continental studios, in the Buenos Aires area of Palermo, to analyze the situation and notify Carlos Rosales of his intentions for a possible purchase of the company. station.
Is about Sergio Bartolomé Szpolskywho has not yet made any specific monetary offer for the station but who with certain attitudes has been showing Rosales’ entourage his intentions of rapprochement.
Szpolsky is considered in the business world as a bankrupt compulsive media buyerwho then dedicated himself to emptying, laying off staff and leaving million-dollar debts that he never paid thanks to the suspicious political protection enjoyed by this pseudo businessman, linked to the secret services of Israel (Mossad) and who is also a possible buyer of Radio of Silver.
Businessman K and “compulsive” non-payer
Spolsky currently owns Balcarce Bakery where there has also been “forgetfulness” of non-payment to the personnel who work at the plant of this company located in the Buenos Aires town of San Martín.
As a supposed K militant, he was a candidate for mayor in Tigre where he lost due to scandal.
It is a “custom” in this character, which He was the Kirchnerist candidate for mayor of Tigre in 2015. and also former owner of several Kirchnerist media outlets such as those of Grupo Veintitrés and who, according to a note from the Clarín newspaper in 2022, presents himself to employees as one of the owners of Panificadora Balcarce, the company that produces Sacaan, Fargo and breads. Don Yeyo, among others.
It is a company that has been under a call for creditors since 2018 and runs the risk of going bankrupt, because it does not generate income and the payment chain is cut off.
In addition to being in charge of Panificadora Balcarce, Szpolski is also director and owner of 5.66% of South Media Investments, the media branch of Grupo Indalo, owned by businessmen Cristóbal López and Fabián de Sousa, who own the C5N channel, Radio 10, the Minutouno portal and the newspaper mbito Financiero, among other media.
He was also the owner of several media outlets that benefited from the Kirchnerist agenda, such as the newspapers Tiempo Argentino and El Argentino, Radio América and the CN23 channel, among others.
He was also a director of Banco Patricios and was involved in its bankruptcy. He also joined the newspaper BAE in 2001, in partnership with Daniel Hadad, who later renamed the media Infobae and got rid of his relationship with Szpolszky.
Later, he became a shareholder in the free university newspaper La U; In 2004 he acquired the majority stake in Veintitrés magazine and in 2009 he was already a local representative of the magazines 7 Días and Newsweek Argentina, and the newspapers Diagonales, El Argentino and Miradas al Sur.
Sergio Bartolomé Szpolsky was accused of fraud on several occasions.
Constant visitor to Courts
Between 2003 and 2004, Justice prosecuted him for fraud and prevented him from leaving the country. The process was due to the case that investigated the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Patricios.
In 2004, the AMIA ethics court convicted him for the investments he made in his own bank, taking advantage of his position as treasurer in the institution abusing his position for personal benefit and expelled him.
In 2008, when he was already one of the media entrepreneurs who received the most official publicity from the Kirchner government, he joined the Electroingeniería group, which bought Radio Del Plata and in 2009 he kept FM Aspen and Radio América.
In January 2012, Clarín journalist Alejandro Alfie reported him for threats, while in 2013 he bought Radio Rivadavia FM, Rock & Pop radio and Radio Splendid.
Scam resume
The UTPBA, the journalistic union, denounced him for a $4 million scam for keeping the employer contributions of his workers, while in 2015, the workers of the company Poligrafica del Plata denounced him for the fraudulent bankruptcy of the company.
The “businessman” is being reported for scams in several cases being processed in court.
He was also, in 2015, denounced before the Financial Information Unit (UFI), by the massista leader Walter Martello, for money launderingfor emptying their companies, for having front men, for evading pension contributions and for delivering hundreds of checks without funds.
Before Mauricio Macri assumed the presidency in December 2015, but when it was already known that he had won the elections, The business group stopped paying salaries to employees, which resulted in the newspaper Tiempo Argentino not appearing on January 2 and 14, 2016 due to salary conflicts and El Argentino disappearing from six of the seven areas in which it was sold.
There were also conflicts with the employees of their radio stations, such as Radio América, which finally closed while its owner continued to “fill” his pockets with millionaire contributions from the K government for his media outlets.
At the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016, the vast majority of media were sold to other groups, including its main brand, Revista Veintitrés, so Grupo Veintitrés ceased to exist as such.
He was also the owner of the English newspaper Buenos Aires Herald; Buenos Aires Economic Newspaper; La Gaceta del Cielo Newspaper; Radio Vorterix; Weekly Looks at the South;
Twenty-Three Magazine; Lonely Planet Magazine; Forbes Argentina Magazine; Autobild Magazine, among others.
