Sanoma Corporation, Press Release, 16 January 2018 at 10:15 CET+1
Sanoma intends to sell its Belgian women’s magazine portfolio
Sanoma has received a binding offer for its Belgian women’s magazine portfolio from Roularta Media Group (RMG), a Belgian listed multimedia group. Enterprise value of the divested assets is EUR 34 million, representing an EBIT multiple of 5.5. Net sales of the divested business were approx. EUR 78 million in 2017 (preliminary figure). The business was part of the Sanoma Media BeNe business segment. Sanoma Media BeNe aims to restructure the sales and support functions in its Belgian organisation as a consequence of the divestment.
The Belgian Home Deco magazine titles will remain part of Sanoma Media BeNe’s business portfolio, and are integrated with the Home Deco operations in the Netherlands. Sanoma’s other businesses in Belgium, including Head Office N.V., a strategic and creative content marketing agency, will continue being part of Sanoma’s core business.
“We have now finalized our major portfolio restructuring in our Media business in the Netherlands and Belgium with the divestment of the Dutch SBS TV business last year, and now the Belgian women’s magazine titles. The Belgian magazine titles will have more synergies with RMG than with our Dutch magazine business and that will give these titles and the team working on them better prospects for future development. Our remaining magazine and online portfolio predominantly in the Dutch market has good market positions, which provide excellent opportunities for continued success,” says Susan Duinhoven, President and CEO of Sanoma.
The transaction is subject to closing conditions including customary regulatory approvals and social consultation with the employee representatives, compliant with all relevant Belgian labour law provisions. The transaction is expected to be closed by the end of the second quarter of 2018. The divested business will be reported as Discontinued operations in Sanoma’s full-year 2017 result according to the IFRS accounting standards. Restructuring costs, capital gains and similar one-off items related to the transaction will be booked into the Discontinued operations’ net result for 2018.
Additional information
Investor Relations, Kaisa Uurasmaa, tel. +358 40 560 5601
Sanoma
Sanoma is a front running media and learning company impacting the lives of millions every day. We provide consumers with engaging content, offer unique marketing solutions to business partners and enable teachers to excel at developing the talents of every child.
With companies operating in Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Sweden, our net sales totalled EUR 1.6 billion and we employed over 5,000 professionals in 2016. The Sanoma shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
