Bill Gates Joins the Buyout Chase for Univision

Mexican TV company Televisa(TV), which is pursuing a buyout of Spanish language broadcaster Univision(UVN), now has Bill Gates on its side.

Televisa said Friday that the Microsoft(MSFT) founder's investment firm, Cascade Investment, has joined a group that will seek to boost Televisa's 11% stake in Univision. Cascade joins Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Sources said Thursday that the private equity firms were hooking up with Televisa, but no bidding price has been disclosed.

Televisa, which also is a programming supplier to Univision, cannot hold more than a 25% ownership stake in the company due to foreign media-ownership restrictions.

Univision announced earlier this year that it was putting itself up for sale.

Other groups said to be interested in Univision include an alliance of Goldman Sachs Capital, Thomas Lee Partners and Texas Pacific Group, and another group that includes Providence, Madison Dearborn and possibly mogul Haim Saban.

On Friday, Univision shares rose 30 cents to $35.92, while Televisa shares declined 48 cents to $21.73.

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