September 16, 2026 – TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: AZTECACPO; LATIBEX: XTZA, “TV Azteca” or the “Debtor”) filed a chapter 15 petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, case No. 26-12217 (Judge Lisa G. Beckerman), seeking recognition of its pending Mexican concurso mercantil as a foreign main proceeding [Docket No. 1]. The Mexican broadcaster is the sole debtor in the concurso; none of the 34 direct and indirect subsidiaries that guarantee its $400.0mn principal amount of 8.25% Senior Notes due 2024 has commenced an insolvency proceeding. The filing was made by TV Azteca CEO Rafael Rodríguez Sánchez in his capacity as foreign representative. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP represents the foreign representative.

TV Azteca is one of the largest producers of Spanish-language television programming globally and operates television networks in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras through its subsidiaries, producing entertainment, news and sports programming and selling advertising inventory. Its Mexican business includes the Azteca 7, Azteca Uno and adn Noticias brands, and the company says it is the second-largest producer of television content in Mexico by audience and market share. The Mexican insolvency petition states that its securities trade as AZTECACPO on the Mexican Stock Exchange and XTZA on LATIBEX, although Mexican regulators began a process in February to cancel the securities’ registration in Mexico.

The U.S. filings note that, as of July 6th, TV Azteca had aggregate liabilities of approximately MXN 25.2bn, or $1.5bn, with liabilities exceeding assets by approximately MXN 3.0bn, or $175.0mn. Its principal funded obligations include $400.0mn face amount of Senior Notes and approximately MXN 4.1bn, or $240.0mn, drawn under a January AlterBank Ltd. facility. The current noteholder claim is materially larger than the notes’ principal amount: TV Azteca reported approximately $532.0mn due as of January 31st, while The Bank of New York Mellon, as indenture trustee, is now seeking approximately $634.0mn in pending New York litigation.

In a press release announcing the chapter 15 filing, TV Azteca said the case seeks formal U.S. recognition of the Mexican concurso and would allow “creditors with interests in the United States to participate and assert their rights within the Mexican concurso mercantil, protect TV Azteca’s assets in the United States, and help ensure that the company’s obligations are addressed in an orderly manner under clear rules applicable to all parties.”

Petition Date Highlights

• TV Azteca, a Mexico City-based television broadcaster and content producer with approximately $1.5bn of reported liabilities as of July 6th, files chapter 15 seeking recognition of its Mexican concurso mercantil. The company is one of the principal media businesses within billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s Grupo Salinas network, alongside businesses including Grupo Elektra, Banco Azteca, Totalplay, Italika, Tiendas Neto and Purpose Financial. Grupo Salinas operates as an umbrella for independently managed businesses rather than as TV Azteca’s direct corporate parent; the chapter 15 filings identify Comunicaciones Avanzadas, S.A. de C.V. as TV Azteca’s majority shareholder.
• The filing follows a multiyear deterioration in the economics of traditional television, including declining linear-TV audiences, cord-cutting and the migration of advertising spending to digital and streaming platforms, compounded by increased programming costs, an unpaid $400.0mn notes maturity and a November 2025 tax ruling that crystallized approximately $500.0mn of Mexican tax liabilities.
• TV Azteca commenced the Mexican proceeding on March 10th. The Concurso Court admitted the case and imposed precautionary measures on March 20th, formally declared TV Azteca in concurso on July 6th and opened a conciliation process that began running upon publication of the judgment on August 10th.
• The company’s preliminary Mexican restructuring proposal contemplates new estate financing, maturity extensions, principal-amortization and interest-payment modifications for secured claims, absolute subordination of related-party claims and a reduction of up to 90% of recognized general unsecured claims. Those terms remain preliminary and subject to negotiation of a definitive convenio with recognized creditors.
• The chapter 15 filing seeks foreign-main recognition, application of the automatic stay to TV Azteca and its U.S. property and U.S. enforcement of the Mexican court’s March 20th and July 6th orders. The Mexican filing itself did not halt the company’s U.S. noteholder litigation.
• The timing of the U.S. filing is closely tied to that continuing bondholder fight. BNY Mellon’s approximately $634.0mn summary-judgment motion over the Senior Notes is fully briefed, while a separate motion seeks additional claims involving the subsidiary guarantees, AlterBank financing and intercompany voting in the concurso. Rodríguez expressly identifies those pending motions as threatening the orderly Mexican restructuring and says chapter 15 recognition is needed to prevent individual creditors from obtaining disproportionate recoveries through U.S. litigation.

Filing Date Summary

Mexico City-based TV Azteca filed its chapter 15 case on September 16th seeking to extend the protections of its Mexican concurso mercantil into the United States, where the company’s long-running dispute with holders of its $400.0mn Senior Notes has advanced to a fully briefed summary-judgment motion seeking approximately $634.0mn. TV Azteca is one of the principal media businesses associated with billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s Grupo Salinas network, whose businesses also include Grupo Elektra, Banco Azteca, Totalplay, Italika, Tiendas Neto and U.S. consumer lender Purpose Financial. Grupo Salinas describes those companies as independently operated businesses rather than subsidiaries of a common Grupo Salinas parent; TV Azteca’s chapter 15 filings identify Comunicaciones Avanzadas as its majority shareholder.

The company entered the Mexican proceeding on March 10th after years of pressure on traditional television advertising and audiences from cord-cutting, streaming and digital media collided with a capital structure it could no longer service. Its $400.0mn 8.25% Senior Notes matured unpaid in August 2024, while a November 2025 Mexican Supreme Court ruling converted long-running tax disputes into approximately $500.0mn of enforceable liabilities. TV Azteca responded in January by borrowing approximately $240.0mn from AlterBank to resolve the tax liability and associated financing costs. By July 6th, when the Mexican court formally declared TV Azteca in concurso, the company reported approximately $1.5bn of liabilities and $175.0mn of negative equity; the Senior Notes represented approximately 41% of liabilities and AlterBank approximately 17%.

The Mexican filing did not stop the New York bond litigation. While the concurso moved through admission, formal insolvency recognition and into its claims-recognition and conciliation stages, BNY Mellon continued pressing its contract claims in the Southern District of New York and completed briefing on a summary-judgment motion now seeking approximately $634.0mn. That pending decision provides the clearest immediate explanation for TV Azteca’s subsequent move into chapter 15: Rodríguez specifically tells the Bankruptcy Court that the summary-judgment motion and BNY Mellon’s separate effort to add claims concerning the AlterBank facility and intercompany voting threaten equal treatment of the company’s approximately 389 creditors and the orderly administration of the Mexican case. He says recognition is needed to prevent disputes over the restructuring from proceeding piecemeal in multiple jurisdictions and to prevent individual creditors from attaching U.S. assets ahead of the collective process.

The restructuring itself remains centered in Mexico. Conciliador Sergio Francisco Hermida Guerrero is conducting the claims-recognition process while TV Azteca seeks a negotiated convenio. The company’s preliminary proposal contemplates new financing, substantial restructuring of existing liabilities and an up-to-90% reduction in recognized general unsecured claims. Chapter 15 would place TV Azteca and its U.S. property within the U.S. automatic stay upon recognition and give the Mexican court’s restructuring orders effect here, bringing the pending New York creditor litigation within that cross-border framework rather than allowing it to reach judgment independently of the concurso.

Goals of the Chapter 15 Filing

The verified petition identifies two principal purposes for the U.S. proceeding: recognition of the concurso as a foreign main proceeding so that the Mexican process and orders are enforceable in the United States, and protection against creditors pursuing recovery outside that proceeding, “particularly the New York Litigation.”

Upon recognition, TV Azteca asks the Bankruptcy Court to recognize the March 20th Admission Order and July 6th Sentencia, apply the automatic stay to the Debtor and its U.S. property, and entrust Rodríguez with administration and realization of U.S.-located property, including causes of action. The Debtor identifies U.S. receivables, bank deposits, its rights under the New York-law indenture, a Sullivan & Cromwell retainer and its ownership of two effectively inactive Delaware subsidiaries among its U.S. connections.

The foreign representative has requested an October 9th recognition hearing, or the earliest practicable date thereafter, with an objection deadline at least seven days before the hearing. That is presently a requested hearing date in the motion, rather than a date I would describe as court-ordered on the supplied record.

Events Leading to the Mexican Concurso

In his declaration supporting recognition (the “Rodríguez Declaration”) [Docket No. 3], CEO Rafael Rodríguez Sánchez traces the company’s distress to a combination of secular pressure on the traditional broadcasting model and two much more immediate liabilities: the Senior Notes and Mexican tax assessments. TV Azteca says linear television has suffered from streaming competition, cord-cutting and the migration of advertising spending toward digital platforms, while the company has also faced higher content and programming costs, pandemic disruption, inflation and higher interest rates. Those pressures began materially affecting TV Azteca around 2020.

The balance-sheet problem became more acute when the $400.0mn notes matured on August 9th, 2024 without payment. On November 13th, 2025, the Mexican Supreme Court rejected TV Azteca’s challenges to tax assessments that left approximately MXN 8.7bn, or roughly $500.0mn, payable to the Mexican government and exposed the company to enforcement against its operations and assets. TV Azteca responded on January 29th by obtaining an AlterBank facility of up to MXN 5.0bn, drawing approximately MXN 4.1bn, or $240.0mn, to resolve the tax liability and related financing costs. Cost reductions, programming reviews, creditor discussions and renegotiated commercial arrangements did not close the gap.

The original Mexican petition is more explicit about the liquidity squeeze. As of January 31st, TV Azteca reported MXN 24.9bn of payable obligations, including MXN 15.0bn that had been overdue for more than 30 days—approximately 60% of total obligations. It said insufficient operating cash flow, restricted credit lines, actual or potential acceleration of financial obligations and an inability to refinance on ordinary market terms made further defaults imminent.

Drilling down, Rodríguez provides: "The traditional television broadcasting industry has undergone a structural, secular decline over the past decade, driven by the rapid proliferation of streaming services, accelerating cord-cutting by consumers, and the migration of advertising expenditures to digital platforms.
These industry-wide forces have fundamentally disrupted the economics of linear television broadcasting globally, affecting broadcasters across markets regardless of their individual operational performance. TV Azteca, like other traditional broadcasters, has been directly impacted by these systemic changes. Beginning in approximately 2020, TV Azteca experienced increasing financial and operational pressures arising from a combination of these industry-wide factors and company-specific circumstances, including (a) the ongoing structural transformation of the media industry and the decline of traditional linear television viewership; (b) the accelerating migration of advertising expenditures from linear television to digital and streaming platforms; (c) intensified competition from global streaming services and other digital content providers; (d) the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on advertising revenues and production activities; (e) increased programming and content acquisition costs; and (f) inflationary pressures, higher interest rates, and broader macroeconomic conditions affecting the television broadcasting industry.

These pressures were compounded by significant tax disputes with the Mexican federal tax authority (Servicio de Administración Tributaria) and disputes with certain holders of the Notes (as defined below). In August 2017, TV Azteca issued USD $400 million aggregate principal amount of 8.25% Senior Notes due 2024 (the “Notes”), pursuant to an Indenture dated August 9, 2017 (the 'Indenture'), among TV Azteca, thirty-four (34) direct and indirect subsidiaries of TV Azteca as joint and several guarantors of the Notes (the 'Subsidiary Guarantors'), and The Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee (the 'Truste'”). The Notes matured on August 9, 2024. None of the Subsidiary Guarantors has filed, or is the subject of, any insolvency or concurso mercantil proceeding, and TV Azteca is the sole debtor in the Concurso Mercantil.

On November 13, 2025, the Mexican Supreme Court issued a final ruling denying several challenges that TV Azteca filed against a series of tax assessments (créditos fiscales) levied against it by the Mexican federal tax authority. This caused TV Azteca to become indebted for approximately MXN $8.7 mil millones (approximately USD $500 million) to the Mexican federal government, subjecting TV Azteca and its subsidiaries to enforcement measures. On January 29, 2026, to avoid seizure of the Company’s operations and assets, TV Azteca obtained a credit facility from AlterBank Ltd. (the “AlterBank Facility”) for up to MXN $5 mil millones (approximately USD $290 million). Approximately MXN $4.1 mil millones (approximately USD $240 million) of the proceeds of the AlterBank Facility were used to satisfy the tax liability owed to the Mexican federal tax authority arising from the Mexican Supreme Court’s November 13, 2025 ruling, as well as financial costs related to such facility.

In response to its deteriorating financial position, TV Azteca pursued discussions with creditors and other measures intended to address its liabilities outside of a formal insolvency proceeding. TV Azteca implemented cost-reduction initiatives, reviewed programming expenditures, and renegotiated commercial arrangements. Those efforts proved insufficient. 22. As of July 6, 2026, TV Azteca had aggregate liabilities of approximately MXN $25.2 mil millones (approximately USD $1.47 billion). The Notes represented approximately 41% of total liabilities; the AlterBank Facility represented approximately 17%. As of July 6, 2026, TV Azteca’s total liabilities exceeded total assets, reflecting negative equity of approximately MXN $2.98 mil millones (approximately USD $175 million). On March 10, 2026, TV Azteca filed a petition seeking commencement of a concurso mercantil proceeding before the Concurso Court (the 'Concurso Petition')."

Prepetition Indebtedness

As of July 6th, TV Azteca reported approximately $1.5bn of aggregate liabilities.

• Senior Notes. TV Azteca issued $400.0mn aggregate principal amount of 8.25% Senior Notes due 2024 under an August 2017 indenture with BNY Mellon as trustee and 34 direct and indirect subsidiaries as joint and several guarantors. The notes matured on August 9th, 2024. TV Azteca’s Mexican petition stated that approximately $532.0mn was outstanding as of January 31st, 2026 after accrued amounts; BNY Mellon’s July 2025 complaint sought approximately $580.0mn, and its currently pending summary-judgment motion seeks approximately $634.0mn. TV Azteca disputes the trustee’s and noteholders’ right to recover under the notes and has asserted counterclaims and third-party claims in the New York litigation.
• AlterBank Facility. TV Azteca entered into an AlterBank facility on January 29th for up to MXN 5.0bn, approximately $290.0mn to $296.0mn based on the exchange rates used in the filings, and later amended and restated the facility on March 6th. Approximately MXN 4.1bn, or $240.0mn, was used to resolve the company’s tax liability and associated financing costs. The facility represented approximately 17% of total liabilities as of July 6th.

Mexican Concurso Mercantil

TV Azteca filed its voluntary concurso petition on March 10th before the First District Court for Commercial Insolvency Matters in Mexico City, case No. 22/2026-II. On March 20th, the court admitted the petition, appointed the statutory examination process and entered precautionary protections restricting transfers and encumbrances and staying enforcement against TV Azteca.

After the visitador completed his review, Judge Tessy del Rocío Covarrubias Torres entered the July 6th judgment formally declaring TV Azteca in concurso and opening the conciliation stage. IFECOM appointed Sergio Francisco Hermida Guerrero as conciliador on July 13th. Publication of the judgment on August 10th started the 185-calendar-day conciliation period, which can be extended to a maximum of 365 days, together with the claims-recognition process. Domestic creditors’ initial filing period ran through August 30th; foreign creditors receive 45 days, and BNY Mellon filed its claim on August 28th. The conciliador filed his provisional claims list on September 9th.

The next claims-stage steps are objections to that provisional list, followed by a definitive list and a court judgment fixing recognized claims, amounts, ranking and priority. In parallel, TV Azteca and the conciliador are negotiating the convenio that would resolve the concurso if approved by the required creditor majorities.

TV Azteca’s March petition included a preliminary restructuring proposal rather than a negotiated final convenio. It contemplates obtaining new claims-against-the-estate financing to fund working capital, content production, infrastructure, regulatory costs and other ordinary operations; adjusting secured debt through maturity extensions, rescheduled amortization and modified interest-payment schedules; cutting recognized general unsecured claims by as much as 90%; and subordinating related-party claims behind other recognized creditors.

The accompanying preservation proposal centers on maintaining uninterrupted broadcasting and programming and retaining content suppliers, producers, rights holders, talent and technical personnel while financial and corporate measures are implemented to restore liquidity.

U.S. Noteholder Litigation and Chapter 15 Relief

The chapter 15 case returns TV Azteca to the same Bankruptcy Court where several noteholders sought to force the company and certain affiliates into involuntary chapter 11 cases in March 2023. Judge Beckerman dismissed those cases in November 2023 after finding the petitioning creditors’ claims subject to bona fide dispute.

BNY Mellon’s separate note litigation began in New York state court in August 2022 and was removed to the Southern District of New York. Following dismissal of the involuntary cases and the notes’ 2024 maturity, the trustee filed a formal complaint in July 2025 seeking approximately $580.0mn in principal and interest. Its current summary-judgment motion seeks approximately $634.0mn. The District Court also entered a September 2025 antisuit injunction preventing TV Azteca from pursuing certain Mexican claims concerning the indenture; TV Azteca’s appeal remains pending in the Second Circuit. BNY Mellon separately sought discovery in the Southern District of Florida concerning the AlterBank financing.

Recognition would bring TV Azteca and its U.S. property within the automatic stay and give effect in the United States to the Mexican insolvency orders. The foreign representative also seeks authority over TV Azteca’s U.S. property and an immediate effectiveness waiver, expressly citing the fully briefed New York summary-judgment motion and the risk of additional creditor action.

Key Prepetition Shareholder

TV Azteca is majority owned by Comunicaciones Avanzadas, S.A. de C.V., which the filings identify as the only shareholder owning 10% or more of the company. The supplied materials do not give its precise ownership percentage.

About the Debtor

The Mexican petition describes the company as the second-largest television-content producer in Mexico by audience and market share and says two concession-holding subsidiaries operate 180 principal digital terrestrial television stations from 504 main and complementary transmission facilities.

The “Rodríguez Declaration [Docket No. 3] provides: "TV Azteca is a Mexican corporation (sociedad anónima bursátil de capital variable) with its registered office and principal place of business at Periférico Sur 4121, Colonia Fuentes del Pedregal, Alcaldía Tlalpan, C.P. 14140, Mexico City, Mexico.
TV Azteca is one of the largest producers of Spanish-language television programming in the world. Through its subsidiaries, TV Azteca operates television networks in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, produces entertainment, news, and sports programming, commercializes advertising inventory, and holds valuable broadcasting concessions issued by the Mexican government. TV Azteca is the direct or indirect parent of numerous subsidiaries located principally in Mexico, as well as in Guatemala and Honduras. TV Azteca’s corporate structure includes certain Delaware-organized entities, including two effectively inactive direct subsidiaries—Azteca International Corporation and Azteca Sport Rights, LLC—as well as additional indirect subsidiaries..

TV Azteca generates revenues from several sources, including advertising sales, content distribution, content licensing, and related media activities. Historically, advertising sales have represented the Company’s principal source of revenue. The Company’s headquarters, senior management, principal operations, primary assets, books and records, and the overwhelming majority of its employees are located in Mexico. TV Azteca derives the substantial majority of its revenues from Mexico and is heavily regulated by Mexican governmental authorities. Its primary Mexican assets include broadcasting concessions, production facilities, television networks, real estate, and intellectual property, and its management functions are centered in Mexico."

Corporate Structure