TALLINN - Eniro, a Swedish telephone directory company, announced this week that it is ending operations in the Baltic states and selling its Estonian and Lithuanian companies to Interinfo Baltic, an Estonia-registered subsidiary of the Norwegian information and media firm Findexa.
Eniro's Latvian subsidiary will be acquired by a local investor. Findexa currently owns Eniro's competitor, Infopluss, which manages information databases and portals.
Infopluss managing director Mart Sule told the Baltic News Service that Eniro and Interinfo have been in talks over a possible deal in Estonia and Lithuania for some time. The parties reached agreement on conditions of the transaction, but the final contract has yet to get the green light from competition authorities.
"Interinfo regards the possible deal as a very positive development for customers, users and employees of those companies," Sule said.
Following the sale of Baltic operations, Eniro will concentrate its operations in the Nordic and Polish markets, the company said. Eniro has been doing business in the Baltic states since the early 1990s, offering printed directories with contact information to private persons and companies, search-related Internet services and directory assistance.
In 2004 the Baltic operations reported sales totaling 91 million Swedish kronor. The firms employ 490 people. The parent company's sales last year totaled 4.9 billion kronor, and the number of employees was 4,900.
