Spain’s Atresmedia appoints new chairman

Spanish publishing group Planeta’s vice-president José Creuheras is to take on the chairmanship of TV group Atresmedia on an interim basis following the death of the group’s previous chairman José Manuel Lara Bosch at the weekend, according to local reports.

Creuheras, who is godfather to the children of Lara Bosch’s late brother Fernando and executor of his 26% stake in the Planeta, is seen as a strong candidate to take over at Atresmedia, in which Planeta is the principal shareholder through its Planeta-DeAgostini joint venture with the Italian publishing group DeAgostini.

Atresmedia’s TV assets include commercial channels Antena 3 and La Sexta.

José García Lara, the elder son of Lara Bosch, currently Planeta group chief financial officer is seen as likely to take the reins at the group in the longer term, although his brother Pablo has also been identified as a possible candidate.

According to local reports, Atresmedia will take a month to confirm a successor to Lara Bosch, with the process running in parallel to that within Planeta.