Tarak Ben Ammar to Purchase Egypt’s ONTV

MILAN: The French-Tunisian producer and financier Tarak Ben Ammar has made moves to acquire the Egyptian network ONTV, which he plans to manage through his Italian company Prima TV.

Ben Ammar is purchasing the network from Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. He already owns leading North African network Nessma TV along with partners Mediaset and the Karoui Brothers. This will mark his first investment in the Egyptian market. The deal will essentially create an alliance between the North African market and the Egyptian market; the total combined population of these two markets accounts for more than half of the Arab world’s entire population.

The network is currently regarded as one of the only politically independent channels in Egypt. Ben Ammar said that the network will continue to be run out of its Cairo headquarters and will continue to be politically independent. He said: “I come from the entertainment world. I am not a politician. I have no ties to any political party, even in my own country Tunisia … I am solely focused on providing audiences with the best, most relevant content possible, whether that be in current affairs, film or TV.”