Pedro Vargas David’s Alpac Capital moves to take control of Serbia’s leading independent media

Owner and director of the Portuguese investment group Alpac Capital, Pedro Vargas David, has come under intense scrutiny in Serbia after his company moved to take control of the country’s leading independent media outlets, including the N1 and Nova S television stations. The takeover has sharpened fears that these newsrooms will be turned into additional government-aligned services under President Aleksandar Vučić.

Vargas David is publicly known as the director of Alpac Capital, which acquired a majority stake in the pan-European channel Euronews in 2022. The channel broadcasts in more than a dozen languages. Media reports have frequently linked him to former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

On 17 August, Serbia’s Agency for Economic Registers officially listed Vargas David as director of all United Group media outlets in the country that had operated under the Adria News Network: the N1 and Nova S television stations, the Nova and Danas newspapers, the weekly Radar, and their associated websites. The registration coincided with the dismissal of the previous directors of these outlets.

For months Vargas David has insisted that professional journalism, pluralism and public responsibility form the foundation of his approach in every market, and that “everything else remains in the hands of professional journalists and editors, whose responsibility is to work freely, responsibly and in the public interest.” Unions representing staff at N1, Nova, Radar and Forbes condemned the manner of the takeover, which occurred “at the height of the summer vacation period, without notifying their employees.” They also expressed concern that Vargas David was registered as director even though the listed owner remains United Fiber S.à r.l., part of United Group.

“From this you can infer that the Portuguese company is rushing to take over N1, Nova, Danas and Radar without having received the necessary permits and consent from the relevant institutions,” the unions said. “With the help of BC Partners, the co-owner of United Group, it is now dismissing the top people in their editorial staffs. Our journalists are concerned that things will not stop there and that the dismissal of editors will continue, with the intent of bringing the remaining independent and professional media into line with the ruling regime’s wishes.”

The changes come less than three months after Alpac Capital and United Group announced an agreement to sell Adria News Network, which also includes outlets in other former Yugoslav republics. The deal drew particular attention in Serbia because N1, Nova, Danas and Radar have been the most consistently critical media in the country. Although Alpac Capital pledged in June to preserve editorial independence, the commitment has not eased concerns that the acquisition will have significant consequences for press freedom in Serbia and the wider Western Balkans.

Vargas David assumed operational control of United Group’s television stations, websites and newspapers in Serbia despite lacking the required approvals, including from Luxembourg’s Independent Audiovisual Authority (ALIA), with which Adria News Network is registered. According to the sale contract reviewed by the investigative site Raskrikavanje, the transaction can be completed only after three conditions are met: clearance from competition authorities in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina; permission from the relevant Luxembourg ministry for the change of control; and completion of a planned ownership restructuring.

Although Vargas David was registered as director on 17 August at his own request, ALIA confirmed the following day that it had not approved the transaction. The authority is also examining the potential impact on editorial independence and media pluralism. The Luxembourg government is expected to decide on permission based on ALIA’s opinion. On 20 August the Luxembourg government raised the possibility of sanctions over the change of directors at N1, Nova, Danas and Radar. The same day the European Commission announced that the European Board for Media Services had begun forming an ad-hoc group to examine the legality of the sale.

Alpac Capital’s earlier activity in the media sector has already drawn criticism from press-freedom organisations over allegations of censorship, political interference and the erosion of professional standards. After the 2022 acquisition of Euronews, mass layoffs followed and the channel’s editorial line shifted. Studies have indicated that part of the funding for the Euronews purchase came from a Hungarian state investment fund and companies linked to Orbán’s political and business circle. Leaked internal memos described one goal of the investment as “mitigating the leftist bias” in the media.

Vargas David maintains unusually close ties to Hungary. In 2017 the Viktor Orbán government entrusted Alpac Capital with managing a fund established by the state EXIM bank, OTP Bank and energy company MOL. Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar has ordered a comprehensive review of contracts worth billions of euros that the state signed with telecommunications group 4iG during Orbán’s tenure. Vargas David served on 4iG’s managing board from 2021 to 2025 and therefore participated in the deals now under examination.

This week a group of 17 Serbian NGOs described the takeover of the country’s last independent media outlets ahead of elections as a “red flag,” citing Alpac Capital’s documented connections to Vučić. At the end of 2025 Vučić publicly called Mario David, father of Alpac Capital’s owner and a long-time aide to Orbán as well as a conservative member of the European Parliament, his friend. Alpac’s business partner in Serbia is the state-owned Telekom Srbija, whose director Vladimir Lučić was recorded last summer discussing strategies for weakening N1. NGOs had already warned that the sale of Adria News Network to the Portuguese fund could pose a direct threat to press freedom in Serbia and the Western Balkans.

Questions have also been raised about the source of funds for the United Group acquisition. In 2024 the Portuguese regulator fined Alpac Capital €137,000 for 36 violations of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing rules between 2017 and 2023. Portuguese authorities did not conclude that money-laundering had occurred, only that the fund had failed to identify the ultimate source of incoming capital.

After the directors of the Adria News Network outlets were dismissed, Vučić remarked that “things have changed” and that the new owner “will have to earn his money” and “approach the majority part of Serbia” so that everyone can watch. The statement prompted the question of how the president could know in advance that the new owner would alter editorial policy. Critics interpreted it as a signal that the outlets would henceforth operate according to the government’s expectations.

Some observers believe Vargas David acquired the outlets precisely because of his relationship with Vučić and that the transaction is primarily political rather than commercial. Veran Matić, chairman of the Association of Independent Electronic Media, said Vučić had long sought a suitable buyer for United Group media that had been “a thorn in his side” for years, and that Alpac Capital was the most logical choice. “Vučić will clearly have dominant control over the development of these media outlets,” Matić said.

A letter sent by Serbian Information Minister Boris Bratina to Vargas David has been cited as further evidence of political involvement. In the letter Bratina welcomed the takeover as the outlets’ “clinical death” and urged Vargas David to place N1 and Nova S under increased oversight by registering them with Serbia’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media. He also criticised ALIA for “conspicuously hesitating” to issue permission. The characterisation is inaccurate: ALIA is an advisory body that issues non-binding opinions for the Luxembourg government and does not itself grant permits.

Bratina, a controversial figure known for burning an EU flag, insulting members of the LGBT community and independent journalists, and appearing frequently on pro-government channels such as Informer, levelled a series of politically charged accusations against N1 and Nova S. He portrayed their journalists’ professional work as political activity directed against the government. The open letter, which provoked an outcry, is widely viewed as having been coordinated at a high level of government and as constituting additional pressure on the staff of the acquired outlets.

Pedro Vargas David is CEO of Alpac Capital and chairman of the board of Euronews Media Holding. According to his official biography he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company from 2006 to 2010, served as director of international strategy at the Portuguese retailer Jerónimo Martins and as CEO of PB Colombia. More recently he has been a member of the Strategic Council for Digital Economy of the Portuguese Business Confederation and of the Portuguese Diaspora Council since December 2022. He lists himself as adjunct professor of emerging markets and chairman of the executive board of the NOVA School of Business and Economics in Lisbon. He holds a degree in economics from NOVA, executive education in private equity from Harvard Business School, a senior executive programme in national and international security from the Harvard Kennedy School, and an MBA from INSEAD.