Facing billions in back taxes in Mexico and the US, TV Azteca announces bankruptcy proceedings

TV Azteca filed for bankruptcy extortion connected Thursday, taking a measurement that is typically a prelude to liquidation.

Shareholders approved the reorganization of institution liabilities done a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding (a “concurso mercantil”), with the purpose of restructuring fiscal obligations nether judicial supervision.

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, TV Azteca’s billionaire owner, precocious reached a woody with the SAT that requires him to wage US $1.86 cardinal successful backmost taxes. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro.com)

TV Azteca, owned by billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, insists that this is not a bankruptcy, but is alternatively a preventative measure. The web said the determination was influenced by structural challenges facing the broadcast tv concern owed to declining advertizing gross and unit from integer platforms.

The web outlined a cleanable tempest of antagonistic factors that pushed the institution into these proceedings. The TV Azteca statement pointed to astir 19 years of litigation and taxation disputes, a “complex dialog with planetary creditors,” the COVID-19 pandemic and the interaction of 3.8 cardinal pesos (US $220.6 million) successful authorities licensing fees paid successful 2018.

Trading successful the broadcaster’s shares connected the Mexican Stock Exchange was suspended successful 2023 aft the institution failed to record firm results.

Salinas Pliego — who past period reached an statement with the Mexican Tax Administration Service (SAT) to pay much than 32 cardinal pesos (US $1.86 billion) successful overdue taxation debts — refuted declarations that helium was going bankrupt.

#GrupoSalinas. La televisora @Azteca entra a concurso mercantil (quiebra técnica) mientras que @ElektraMx, también propiedad de @gruposalinas, reportó pérdidas por casi 20 mil mdp en el último trimestre de 2025. Al tío Richie aún le quedan por pagar 18 mensualidades de su adeudo… pic.twitter.com/Irr0EglvCq

— Jenaro Villamil (@jenarovillamil) February 26, 2026

Responding to a Wednesday societal media station by Jenaro Villamil, the manager of the Mexican State Public Broadcasting System, Salinas Pliego said Villamil and his friends successful the authorities “are messing with the incorrect person.”

“We’ll spot you each successful 2030 and past you’ll find retired if I’m bankrupt,” Salinas Pliego wrote, referencing the adjacent statesmanlike election, for which helium is considered a imaginable candidate.

As for TV Azteca — Mexico’s second-biggest tv broadcaster — El Universal columnist Mario Maldonado believes that down the firm connection are important obligations that explicate the decision. 

“TV Azteca carries an estimated full indebtedness of betwixt US $2 cardinal and US $2.2 cardinal and, successful addition, faces defaults to creditors successful the United States for astir US $600 million, a concern that has accrued the ineligible and fiscal unit connected the company,” he wrote connected Friday.

Maldonado said that whether the bankruptcy proceedings successfully stabilize the institution “will beryllium connected the currency travel the tv presumption manages to make successful a shrinking advertizing market.”

Rafael Rodríguez, TV Azteca’s CEO, implied conscionable that successful a statement. “This is simply a last‑resort instrumentality aimed astatine preserving the worth of the company, ensuring the continuity of its operations, and facilitating the orderly fulfillment of its obligations without interrupting its functioning,” helium said.

Under Mexican law, the “concurso mercantil” aims to question an statement betwixt the institution and its creditors successful bid to debar a shutdown successful a process that typically lasts six months. If a process connected restructuring debts can’t beryllium agreed upon, the company’s assets would beryllium sold disconnected to wage creditors.

With reports from La Jornada, Proceso, El Universal and Reuters