Prisa to speed up Santillana stake talks - paper

MADRID, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Debt-laden Spanish media group Prisa (PRS.MC) is to accelerate the sale of part of its Santillana publishing unit after talks with Mediapro's Imagina broke down, Expansion said on Tuesday, citing financial sources.

On Aug. 7, Prisa said it had broken off talks over a possible merger of its audio-visual business with Imagina's.

Prisa's advising bank BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) has contacted potential bidders that presented preliminary offers for Santillana in July, to inform them talks would reopen in September, said Expansion.

BNP forms part of a syndicate of banks, along with HSBC (HSBA.L), Spanish savings banks La Caixa and Caja Madrid, Spain's Banesto (BTO.MC) and France's Natixis (CNAT.PA), which has given Prisa until April to sell assets or recapitalise the company to finance part of its debt, Expansion said.

Among the groups interested in Santillana are private equity firms Apax Partners, Blackstone, Texas Pacific Group, Bridgepoint and Hellman and Friedman, it said.

No one was available at Prisa to comment on the report. Previously, Prisa has said it would seek a minority partner in Santillana and would also consider disposals of other assets.

The owner of Spain's leading daily El Pais is labouring under a debt-to-core-earnings ratio of about 6:1 and an asset sale could give it much-needed breathing space as it attempts to overhaul its core business and sell some units to raise cash. (Reporting by Sarah Morris, editing by Will Waterman)