Empresa Editora el Comercio S.A.

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What it is

Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A. edits, publishes and distributes print and non-print media — books, newspapers and graphic publications — and operates through four business segments: Press-El Comercio, Broadcasting, Print, and Transactional. The group owns Peru’s top five selling newspapers, including Trome, El Comercio, and Gestión.

El Comercio Group is the largest media conglomerate in Peru and one of the largest in South America. Its Television segment manages national television channels; its Digital segment covers online payment solutions and an online marketplace; and Enterprise Services provides printing and graphic-design solutions to business customers.

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Who owns it

The group is owned by the Miró Quesada family, who took control of the newspaper in 1875, survived the assassination of one of their directors in 1933 and a left-wing military dictatorship’s confiscation of the paper between 1974 and 1980. The exact family ownership percentage is not consolidated in available sources, but the shareholder base is very large: the company is controlled by approximately 150 shareholders.

A sale is now live. On May 28 2026, the company filed a material-event notice with Peru’s securities regulator, the SMV: “The company has received a communication signed by 79 shareholders informing their decision to offer for sale, jointly, common shares representing 62.9464142% of the share capital.” The prospective buyers include César Emilio Rodríguez Larraín Salinas — who has been part of the Latam Airlines group in Peru — alongside a pharmaceutical entrepreneur, Francisco Picasso Candamo of Medifarma.

The transaction is not yet closed; a group of shareholders is seeking to exercise pre-emption rights, with a formal deadline running.

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Who runs it

Since January 2024, Ignacio Giménez Zapiola has served as CEO (Gerente General). He holds an MBA from Columbus State University and previously served as president and CEO of BIMO and as commercial director of Argentina’s Clarín newspaper.

Takeshi Yosioka serves as head of Finance and Administration (CFO equivalent), per the company’s own press disclosures.

In March 2026 the shareholders’ assembly elected a new board for the 2026–2029 period, comprising 11 members — seven of them women — including Sandra Benavides Miró Quesada, Araceli Escalante Miró Quesada, and Emilio Rodríguez Larraín Miró Quesada, among others. The election of a board chair and vice-chair was to follow in the subsequent days per the company’s statutes.

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The money, in plain words

In FY 2024, the company brought in PEN 727.3M (~USD 212.7M) in sales — up 3.1% from PEN 705.6 (US$206)M the year before — but still posted a net loss of PEN 12.2 (US$4)M, which was 83% smaller than the loss in 2023. Put plainly, it lost about 1.7 cents on every sol of revenue (net margin of –1.7%, our calculation) — a marked improvement but still in the red.

For full-year 2025, the company lifted its operating cash generation and achieved positive net income — without any one-off asset sales — while debt is set to fall further in 2026. Management guides for total debt to drop from approximately PEN 46.7 (US$14)M to PEN 34.4 (US$10)M in 2026, which at current exchange rates would take financial obligations to roughly USD 10M — a notably lean balance sheet for a media group of this scale.

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What it is doing now

El Comercio closed 2024 with more than 110,000 digital subscribers — it had almost none three years earlier. The group’s marketing chief says the target for end-2025 is approximately 170,000 digital subscribers.

Non-traditional revenues — events, digital subscriptions, printing services — rose from roughly 20% to 40% of the total within two years. In December 2025, the company approved the sale of its historic Lima headquarters building and its Pueblo Libre printing plant through a trust, freeing up capital while shrinking its physical footprint — a clear signal that the transformation is structural, not cosmetic.

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What to watch

• Ownership change: If the sale is completed, one of Peru’s most influential media holdings would enter a new era that could bring changes to its business strategy, editorial lines and administrative structure.
• Pre-emption rights: Dissenting family members note that existing shareholders hold pre-emption rights, and there are questions about the financial capacity needed to exercise a purchase of this size.
• Profitability turn: The group’s profitability has suffered in recent years as readers migrate to social media for news, and its credit rating has declined despite restructuring efforts. Whether the digital subscription ramp delivers sustained profits — not just narrowing losses — is the key test for the incoming owners.
• Real-estate proceeds: The monetisation of two major Lima properties through a trust could provide a significant one-time cash boost, with management indicating the proceeds will be directed to debt repayment.

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This is news, not investment advice.