Newspaper & Mailroom

Schibsted sells Baltic operations to management and local investors

Friday 13. September 2013 - Schibsted Media Group has agreed on selling the Baltic operations in Eesti Meedia (EM) to a group formed by management of EM. The group is supported financially by local Estonian investors, headed by Margus Linnamäe.

– Schibsted has owned Eesti Meedia for 15 years, since June 1998. We are proud that EM, under our ownership, has developed into a mature, financially strong and strategically well positioned media group in Estonia and the Baltics. As part of Schibsted’s continuous strategic evolution, it is our duty to review whether we are the best owners for all our portfolio companies. We are satisfied with reaching an agreement with a management team that we know stands for sound long term thinking, CEO of Schibsted Media Group Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.
Eesti Meedia is a Baltic media house with its primary operations in Estonia and smaller presences in Latvia and Lithuania. Around 70 percent of the profit of the group (EBITDA) is generated by the printing operations in Kroonpress. The company also owns Postimees, which is the leading newspaper in Estonia, regional newspapers, magazines, TV- and radio stations and online classifieds. In 2012 the company had revenues of EUR 79 million.
The agreement values Eesti Meedia at approximately EUR 30 million. Schibsted will in Q3 2013 recognize a loss of around EUR 26 million, which will be recognized in Q3 2013 as a result of the transaction.