Brazilian media empire Globo is mulling an initial public offering of a minority stake in the group if Brazil's parliament passes legislation allowing foreign companies to invest in the country's media.

The Brazilian Congress is scheduled to vote next month on a bill that would enable foreigners to acquire up to 30% of traditional media companies.

The share offer is likely to be worth several billion dollars. Mexico's Televisa, which has lower revenues than Globo, has a market capitalisation of about $9.3bn.

Globo recently denied that it is in talks with Argentina's Grupo Clarin and Telecom Italia about creating a cable television unit that pooled both Globo and Clarin's assets. Apart from radio and publishing interests, Globo owns a pay-TV business that controls 60% of the Brazilian market and one of the country's fastest-growing internet portals.