Stock Exchange Release 22/07/2011 18:40
Sanoma announced the acquisition of SBS free-to-air TV assets in the Netherlands and Belgium from ProSiebenSat.1 on 20 April 2011. The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has today granted approval for the acquisition. With this approval, Sanoma expects to close the transaction within next couple of weeks.
The approval is subject to a condition related to the minority stake in the Dutch broadcasting company RTL held by Talpa, Sanoma's partner in the acquisition. The condition that the NMa has set is that Talpa must sell its minority interest in broadcaster RTL Netherlands within three years, and that it, until then, must transfer its shares in RTL Netherlands to an independent trust foundation. NMa's decision can be found on their website at www.nma.nl.
The acquisition of the Belgian operations was closed on 8 June 2011. Sanoma will report the SBS operations in the Sanoma Media division.
Sanoma Corporation
Kim Ignatius
Chief Financial Officer
Additional information: Sanoma's Investor Relations, Kare Laukkanen tel. +358 105 19 5064 and Anna Tuominen tel. +358 105 19 5066 or ir@sanoma.com
Sanoma.com
Sanoma inspires, informs and connects. As a diversified media group, we bring information, experiences, education and entertainment to millions of people every day. We make sure that quality content and interesting products and services are easily available and meet the demands of our readers, viewers and listeners. We offer a challenging and interesting working environment for nearly 20,000 people in over 20 countries throughout Europe. In 2010, the Group's net sales totalled EUR 2.8 billion.