Warner Media Takes Ownership of HBO's Services in Latin America

The deal includes HBO Max, Cinemax and HBO Go services in Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Caribbean.

WarnerMedia has reached an agreement to buy Ole Communications’ minority stake in HBO Ole Partners, a joint venture between WarnerMedia and Ole Communications, in a transaction that will result in WarnerMedia owning 100 percent of all HBO, MAX, Cinemax and HBO Go services in Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We’re excited to own all of HBO Ole Partners, which operates one of the leading premium, subscription-based television networks in the region. The acquisition will allow us to bring localized versions of our upcoming U.S. streaming service HBO Max to consumers in Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Gerhard Zeiler, chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia and president of WarnerMedia International Networks, who will top HBO Ole Partners once relevant regulatory approvals are granted, according to the company's press release.

The ownership structure of HBO Brasil Partners, another joint venture between the companies that operates HBO in Brazil, remains so far unaffected. “We have the option to acquire the business in Brazil but are not doing so at this time. As we have said, additional, direct investment in Brazil is not currently attractive to us because of the existing regulatory uncertainty in the country. We support and remain optimistic about the ongoing efforts to amend the SeAC law to ensure the media industry has a clear and predictable regulatory framework that fosters investment and innovation,” added Zeiler.

WarnerMedia and Ole Communications will continue their basic channel distribution business in Latin America.

“WarnerMedia has been a great partner in Latin America and we are proud to have built the HBO-branded networks in the region together,” said Enrique Cusco, president and CEO of Ole Communications.

WarnerMedia and Ole Communications brought HBO programming services to the region for the first time when they founded the HBO Ole Partners joint venture in 1991 and launched a Spanish-language HBO-branded premium channel that same year. In 1994, a Portuguese-language service was launched in Brazil.