Billionaire Tykač’s firm cleared to buy half of Czech Mafra media group

The Office for the Protection of Competition has approved the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in the Mafra media group by Tymeprax, a company owned by Czech billionaire Pavel Tykač. The remaining half will stay with Kaprain, the investment group of Karel Pražák. The authority said the deal would not significantly distort market competition and has issued a final approval. Mafra publishes major Czech outlets including Mladá fronta Dnes and the iDNES news portal. Kaprain acquired the group in 2023 from Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO Party) as part of a broader transaction reportedly worth around CZK 10 billion.