Grupo Indalo
Grupo Indalo was established in the early 2000s as a group of companies led by Cristóbal López from his native province (Chubut) The companies operated in several economic sectors, mainly transportation, casino and gambling, oil and fuel. In 2010 Indalo entered the media industry after purchasing two radio stations (FM Del Mar 98.7 and FM 90.3), a newspaper (El Patagónico), a magazine (Polar) and a TV channel (Canal 9), which were all located in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia.
In 2011 it purchased news portal Minuto Uno. In 2012 the group’s media expanded the most, as it purchased Daniel Hadad’s five radio stations (FM Vale, One, Mega and Pop, and AM Radio 10) and his news channel C5N.
That year, it also bought bank Finansur to enter the financial sector.
Grupo Indalo’s growth also included audiovisual production companies. In 2013 it partnered with production company Ideas del Sur, owned by renowned TV host Marcelo Tinelli. In 2015 it purchased production companies La Corte and Pensado Para Televisión. The group also purchased most of the stock of newspapers Ámbito Financiero and The Buenos Aires Herald.
In 2016 it purchased some of the stock of dying Grupo Veintitrés and closed a deal to buy paid content TV channel CN23, free newspaper El Argentino and 50% of FM Vorterix.
As of 2016, the group’s shareholders face prosecution for evading fuel sale and distribution taxes worth $8 billion. Both Cristóbal López and his partner Fabián de Sousa are in prison for tax evasion.
All the media belonging to the group are subject to official intervention, since the oil company (Oil Combustibles) through which the evasion took place was the controlling company of all Grupo Indalo firms. As of 2016, the group sold part of its main assets, such as bank Finansur and all its casino enterprises.
Mother Company
Inversora MyS
Business Form
Private
Legal Form
Joint stock corporation
Business Sectors
Oil and oil by-products extraction, distribution and commercialization; food production; cattle breeding; olive oil manufacturing and exportation; agriculture; hospitality; road construction; plastic treatment; casinos and gambling; car sales
Individual Owner
He is the mentor and founder of Grupo Indalo, which was created when López’s first companies began to operate in the south part of Argentina. Most of his businesses were in the oil and gambling industries. Since 2010, Cristóbal López decided to diversify his group’s businesses, thus becoming more connected to different administrations (local, provincial and national governments). He is in prison for tax evasion.
He became a minority shareholder of Grupo Indalo in 2001. He manages Grupo Indalo’s media, even though he holds stock in most of the group’s companies. He is not involved in the gambling and casino enterprises.
Other Print Outlets
Ámbito Financiero
Magazine Noche Polar
Other TV Outlets
C5N (Buenos Aires)
CN23 (Buenos Aires)
Canal 9 (Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut)
Other Radio Outlets
FM Mega 98.3 (Buenos Aires)
FM Vale 97.5 (Buenos Aires)
FM Pop 101.5 (Buenos Aires)
FM One 103.7 (Buenos Aires)
AM 710 Radio 10 (Buenos Aires)
FM Del Mar 98.7 (Chubut)
FM Patagonia Pop 90.3 (Chubut)
FM Vorterix 92.1 (Buenos Aires)
Other Online Outlets
https://www.minutouno.com
https://www.diarioregistrado.com
https://www.ratingcero.com
https://www.elpatagonico.com
https://www.ambito.com
Media Business
Audiovisual production company
Pensado Para Televisión
La Corte
Ideas del Sur
Business
Food
Olivares del Sol
Plastic manufacturing
Alcalis de la Patagonia
Oil services and production
Petrolera Cerro Negro
Oil Combustibles
Construction
Oil Construcciones
Magenta S.A.
Esuvial
CPC Constructora
Hospitality
Los Notros
Cattle breeding
Ganadera Victoria
Car retail
Tsuyoi S.A.
General Information
Founding Year
2001
Affiliated Interests Founder
Most of his businesses were in the oil and gambling industries. Since 2010, Cristóbal López decided to diversify his group’s businesses, thus becoming more connected to different administrations (local, provincial and national governments).
Employees
600 (only in media)
Contact
Av. Córdoba 657, city of Buenos Aires
Financial Information
Revenue (Financial Data/ Optional)
Missing data
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
Missing data
Advertising (in % of total funding)
Missing data
Management
Executive Board
President of the board
Vice President of the board
Permanent member of the board
Alternate member of the board
Alternate member of the board
Alternate member of the board
Other Influential People
After selling part of his media to Grupo Indalo in 2016 (Vorterix, El Argentino and CN23), both Szpolski and his partner, Matías Garfunkel, became minority shareholders of former Grupo Veintitrés. In 2019 Szpolski’s main business interests are in the private security industry. He faces legal prosecution for tax evasion, asset stripping and fraud in his former media companies. He ran for mayor of the city of Tigre for political party Frente para la Victoria in 2015.
Further Information
Sources
Becerra, Martín y Mastrini, Guillermo (2017). Medios en guerra: balance, crítica y desguace de las políticas de comunicación 2003-2016. Biblos, Buenos Aires.
Alfie, Alejandro (2015). Los agentes de Néstor y Cristina: los juegos de poder de Sergio Szpolski y Diego Gvirtz para multiplicar el relato oficial, acumular medios y millones, y otros oscuros negocios. Buenos Aires, Margen Izquierdo.
Rafele, Esteban (2013). Los patrones de la Argentina K. Planeta, Buenos Aires.
Gasulla, Luis y Parrilla, Juan (2017). El negocio político de la obra pública: De la patria contratista a Menem. De los noventa a Kirchner. De CFK a Macri. Sudamericana, Buenos Aires.
Becerra, Martín (2015). De la concentración a la convergencia: Políticas de medios en Argentina y América Latina. Buenos Aires, Paidós.
Zunino, Edi (2013). Periodistas en el barro: Peleas, aprietes, traiciones y negocios. Sudamericana, Buenos Aires.
Lacunza, Sebastián (2016). Pensar el periodismo: La crisis de la profesión y los medios analizada desde las redacciones. Ediciones B, Buenos Aires.
Indart, Ramón y Poore, Federico (2014). El poder del juego: El gran negocio de la política argentina. Aguilar, Buenos Aires.
