Emmis has teamed up with Accession Mezzanine Capital in filing a request for arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes against the Republic of Hungary. The companies operated the two national commercial radio stations in Hungary, Slager Radio and Danubius Radio, under licenses granted by the Hungarian broadcast regulator, ORTT. On October 28, 2009 -- ORTT awarded these licenses to two Hungarian entities with close ties to the two largest Hungarian political parties.
Emmis launched Slager after being awarded the broadcasting license in 1997, while Danubius has been on air since July 1986. During their stewardships, both Emmis and AMC invested significant amounts in Hungary's economy, provided employment to their all-Hungarian staffs, brought world-best practices to the local industry, and operated in a completely transparent and politically non-partisan manner. The Hungarian public responded quickly to the stations: Slager and Danubius were consistently the top-rated stations in Hungary, reaching over 4 million listeners per week (out of a population of 10 million).
In their ICSID filing, Emmis and AMC assert that the Republic of Hungary has violated its treaty obligations by expropriating private property without compensation and not extending fair and equitable treatment to non-Hungarian investors. A copy of the Request for Arbitration as filed with ICSID can be found at www.emmis.com/press/home.aspx.
