BELGRADE – Portuguese investment group Alpac Capital on Monday took control of several major independent media outlets in Serbia, including N1 and Nova S television channels, the daily Danas, the weekly Radar, as well as the Nova newspaper and news portal.
Alpac Capital owner Pedro Vargas Santos David was simultaneously registered as the new director of the Serbian media companies operating within Adria News Network (ANN), previously part of United Group.
According to N1, Serbia’s Business Registers Agency approved the changes on Monday.
The management changes saw several executives removed from their positions. Mihailo Jovićević was dismissed as director of the company behind the Nova.rs portal, Nova newspaper and Radar weekly, while Aleksandra Mitić was removed as director of Dan Graf, the publisher of Danas.
Brent Sadler was dismissed as director of Adria News, the company operating N1 Serbia, as well as from his recently assumed position as director of Adria News Nova S. Janez Živko was also removed as a director of Nova S.
N1 said the changes marked the continuation of Alpac Capital’s takeover of ANN in line with previously announced plans and stressed that the ownership change would not affect the television station’s editorial policy or the way its newsroom makes editorial decisions.
“The N1 newsroom will continue to operate according to the same professional principles and standards as before. The editorial team retains full responsibility for the selection of topics, reporting and editorial decisions made in the public interest,” N1 said.
According to the Nova.rs portal, Pedro Vargas Santos David personally submitted the applications to be registered as director of the companies.
The latest changes come less than three months after Alpac Capital and United Group announced that they had reached an agreement on the sale of Adria News Network.
The agreement, announced on 29 May, covered ANN’s news operations across Serbia and several other Western Balkan countries. At the time, the companies said the transaction was expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
Alpac Capital is a Portuguese investment group whose media portfolio includes a majority stake in Euronews. When announcing the ANN acquisition, the company pledged to preserve the network’s editorial independence and said it was committed to “fact-based, neutral and independent journalism”.
The sale has attracted particular attention in Serbia because N1, Nova, Danas and Radar are among the country’s most prominent media outlets providing critical coverage of the government.
Ahead of the agreement, a group of civil society organisations warned that the potential acquisition could have significant implications for media freedom in Serbia and the wider Western Balkans.
