Respected Latvian newspaper titles sold off

  • 2009-07-08
  • TBT staff
RIGA - Swedish owned media group Bonnier Business Press (BBP) which publishes respected Latvian newspaper titles Diena and Dienas Bizness has been sold for an undisclosed sum in a deal brokered by the companies' former management.
Nedela S.A., which is headed by former Diena CEO Aleksandrs Tralmaks, and leading partner at the company Catella Corporate Finance acquired the company after an agreement reached with the newspapers' on July 3.

First published in 1990, Diena (The Day) is one of the largest and most influential Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia.
Sister publication Dienas Bizness, which operates two business information Web sites and organizes conferences, is also highly respected.
Tralmaks said his company would continue to ensure the newspapers' enshrined values of independent journalism and freedom of speech.

 DONE DEAL

CEO and President of BBP Casten Almqvist said the company saw the deal as an opportunity to further strengthen its positions in its priority markets of Scandinavia, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovenia.
Tralmaks is the sole owner of Nedela S.A, however the deal was financed 100 percent by Luxembourg Financial Services (LSF).
According to a statement from Bonnier Business Press, LSF was established by a group of Estonian entrepreneurs, headed by Kalle Norberg.
Catella Corporate Finance acted as a consultant between the parties and assisted in attracting financing for the purchase. Former Bonnier board member John Hedberg also assisted in negotiations.

"The buyers know the companies very well. Tralmaks was previously CEO for the newspaper Diena. Furthermore, one of the proposed new board members, John Hedberg has a background as part of the top management team at Bonnier Newspapers, said Almqvist.
 The companies involved in the sale have declined to put a figure on the deal.
However, Estonian business Web site Aripaev.ee, which is owned by BBP, estimated the value at about 44.9 million lats (63.88 euros).

Tralmaks said the companies' long-term future plans included the development of Internet versions of Diena and Dienas Bizness.
No major changes are expected in the newspapers' daily operations as the former owners had already taken significant action to adjust to the prevailing economic environment, Tralamks said.
Joint Latvian-Swedish Stock Company Diena is the largest media concern in Latvia publishing national and regional newspapers, magazines and providing press printing and distribution services. The controlling shares are owned by the Swedish media concern Bonnier AB and the rest by private individuals.

JSC Diena, which owns 27 percent of subscribers of all regional newspapers published in Latvia, holds a leading position in the Latvian media market in terms of total turnover of its media companies.
The newspaper Diena is the market leader both in terms of readership and revenue from advertising.
In addition to its media companies, JSC Diena also owns a printing company which prints 40 percent of the newspapers in Latvia and a distribution network for subscription publications which serves 34 percent of the market.

As of April this year Diena newspaper had some 31,651 subscribers. The newspaper's Russian language edition was discontinued in 2000.