NEW SOAP OPERA

Univision heads for auction with few suitors

Univision is trying to sell itself again — and investors are bracing for yet another long, dragged-out telenovela.

In the middle of last month, the Spanish-language TV network quietly gathered a select group of prospective suitors in New York as it sought a price tag north of $10 billion, sources told The Post.

But after sifting through more than 100 pages of confidential financial information, the group of media companies and buyout firms appears to have taken a pass, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

Now, Univision is in “the very early stages” of a formal auction process with a “strict timetable” that’s being run by Morgan Stanley, Moelis & Co. and LionTree, an insider said. The banks, however, haven’t set a bidding deadline, sources said.

In the coming weeks, prospective bidders will face a tough question: As Univision tries to wean itself from tearjerking soap operas and game shows hosted by women in tight dresses, can it remake itself into a millennial-focused powerhouse that can compete with online rivals like Netflix?

However the cliff-hanger pans out, most observers say one thing is clear: Cable-TV tycoon John Malone won’t be matching a $12 billion takeover offer he made two years ago — and Univision will be lucky to get the $10 billion it’s asking for.

Indeed, many observers reckon that the network, if it sells, is more likely to fetch a modest premium to its $7.5 billion debt load, which itself is a healthy multiple of the company’s estimated $1 billion in yearly cash flow.

“If they are able to sell, there’s still a huge task ahead,” one former executive told The Post. “There needs to be an investment in Univision.”

The Miami-based network has been scrambling to update its programming, giving women more powerful roles and remaking old telenovelas with A-list movie actors. Meanwhile, however, it just sold its digital media unit, Gizmodo, to Great Hill Partners, and doesn’t have a clear online strategy to replace it.

“When bankers look at this stuff, it’s hard for them to put their finger on what they are really buying,” the exec concluded.

That’s a reversal from just two years ago, when Univision rejected a bid of more than $12 billion from Malone’s Liberty Media and Discovery Communications. At the time, Univision had designs on going public, but scrapped them a year later as it lost market share to Comcast-owned rival Telemundo and streaming rivals like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube.

But the real turning point appears to have been in 2007, when it was taken private in a debt-driven, $13.7 billion deal by private-equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG Capital, THL Partners and Haim Saban, the billionaire media mogul behind the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

At the time, the Hispanic population was at the peak of the migration to the US, according to the Pew Research Center. But the company’s massive debt load became a hindrance to growth, sources said.

Five years ago, Univision’s flagship network attracted an average of 3 million eyeballs in prime time, according to Nielsen. During the current season, Univision’s prime-time viewership was 1.3 million.

In Univision’s quarter ended March 31, revenue fell 8.2 percent to $611.9 million, while cash flow dropped 20 percent to $204.3 million. Profit shrank by nearly half, to $24.3 million.

In a renewed push to sell the network last month, Univision’s board said the company has “strategic value” given that “the US Hispanic audience represents one of the very few certain growth opportunities in today’s media marketplace.”

But sources say this is wishful thinking. “There are fewer immigrants coming in and Hispanics and Latinos are increasingly bilingual and not interested in that,” said the former Univision employee.

The source noted that Telemundo in 2011 won the World Cup soccer rights, a big draw for Spanish-language viewers, and a black eye for Univision.

One strategic opportunity could be in Mexican TV giant Grupo Televisa, which makes much of Univision’s programming, to the tune of about $400 million a year. Televisa owns, with convertible notes, about 36 percent of Univision, and can buy up to a 49 percent stake in Univision.

“The most likely scenario is Televisa growing their stake to 49 percent, which they were allowed by the FCC a year or so ago, and Liberty buying the remaining 51 percent,” the exUnivision exec said. “The only issue with that is the Televisa stock is underperforming massively, so I am not sure if they have the balance sheet to get it done.”

Univision declined to comment.