UPDATE 1-Shares in Mexico's Televisa surge after Univision plan unveiled

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MEXICO CITY, April 14 (Reuters) - Shares of Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa surged more than 25% on Wednesday after it announced it would combine its content with U.S. peer Univision, a plan which was quickly hailed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The combined operation, announced Tuesday as a new media company called Televisa Univision, will feature content from both broadcasters, including series, movies, sports, telenovelas and archive content.

Televisa-Univision is planning to launch a global streaming platform in early 2022, Televisa said, competing with other major companies like Netflix.

Even as Lopez Obrador praised the deal, he called on the company to prevent discrimination against the Hispanic community, particularly migrants.

"I only asked... that xenophobia or discrimination is not allowed and, in particular, that the dignity of Mexicans be respected," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference.

Televisa shares leapt almost 28% after opening on Wednesday following news of the new company, which Televisa said would be the largest Spanish-language media company in the world, before Mexico's stock market operator halted trading.

The new company will serve the "significantly underserved Spanish-language market," it said.

Less than 10% of the Spanish-speaking market utilizes a streaming product, versus nearly 70% of the English language market, according to data shared by Televisa.

Lopez Obrador also said the operation would yield several billion pesos in taxes.

"All taxes will be paid," he said. (Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Cassandra Garrison)