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Azteca Says ADR Holders Notified of Termination

Sandy Brown

Mexico's TV Azteca(TZA - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), one of the largest producers of Spanish-language television programming in the world, said holders of its American depositary receipts have been given notice that the securities are being terminated.

The advisory was made June 17 by the custodian, Bank of New York.

Termination of its listing in the U.S. was approved at a shareholders' meeting in Mexico on June 1. The New York Stock Exchange is expected to suspend trading on July 18.

Holders will have 60 days to exchange their ADRs for shares that can be traded on the Mexican exchange. After that, Bank of New York will be allowed to sell the Mexican shares underlying the ADRs that were not surrendered and distribute the proceeds to holders, according to the company.

Mexican media and retail tycoon Ricardo Salinas is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for securities fraud.

The SEC filed civil fraud charges against TV Azteca and three officers including Ricardo Salinas in January alleging in its complaint that "the defendants engaged in an elaborate scheme to conceal Salinas's role in a series of transactions through which he personally profited by $109 million." The SEC also alleges that Salinas and at least one other executive sold millions of dollars of TV Azteca stock while Salinas's self-dealing remained undisclosed to the marketplace.

Azteca operates two national television networks in Mexico and has more than 300 owned and operated stations across the country. It also owns Azteca America Network, a broadcast television network with stations in markets such as Las Vegas, which compete with larger companies including NBC Universal's Telemundo and juggernaut Hispanic broadcaster Univision(UVN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).