New transaction: Alma Media divests BNS Group

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Alma Media divests BNS

Alma Media Corporation Press release
3 March 2014 at 13.20 EET

Alma Media’s Kauppalehti Group has sold its news agency and media monitoring business Baltic News Service (BNS) to Oü Uudisvoog which is owned by Koha Capital Oü, an Estonian venture capital company. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value.

As a result of the transaction Alma Media will book a 0.8 MEUR sales gain into its first quarter 2014 profits. BNS operates in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and had an annual revenue of 4.2 MEUR in 2013. BNS was founded in 1990 and it became part of Alma Media in 1998.

– BNS has performed well in its own business. However, the synergies it has had with other businesses of Kauppalehti Group have remained limited. We will now focus on offering business media and digital services for companies, says Juha-Petri Loimovuori, Senior Vice President of Kauppalehti Group.

For more information, please contact: Juha-Petri Loimovuori, Senior Vice President of Kauppalehti Group, tel. +358 500 511 036, juha-petri.loimovuori@kauppalehti.fi

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a media company focusing on digital services and publishing. In addition to news services, the company’s products provide useful information related to lifestyle, career and business development. The services of Alma Media have expanded from Finland to the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Central Europe. The company employs 1,965 professionals (excluding distributors), of whom approximately one third work outside Finland. Alma Media’s revenue in 2013 totalled approximately MEUR 300. Alma Media’s share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. Read more at www.almamedia.com

New transaction: EfTEN Real Estate fund acquires landmark hotel property in the hearth of Tallinn

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Press release, 20.02.2013

EfTEN Real Estate Fund and Vello Kunman’s AS Esraven purchased the property and operator of hotel Palace, situated at Tallinn Freedom Square, as a joint investment from Scandic Hotels AB.

Viljar Arakas, the CEO of EfTEN Capital, considers the investment unique. “Hotel Palace is an icon with its long history and unique location. Yet the last thorough renovation dates back to almost a quarter of a century and the life cycle of utility systems is reaching its final end. At this stage the hotel cannot be competitive in today’s market and needs full renovation. Our plan is to completely reconstruct and reopen hotel Palace is its former glory,” Arakas said.

EfTEN Real Estate Fund acquired the property and operator of hotel Palace with investor Esraven AS, part of Silikaat Group. Both parties have agreed to invest 50% of the full cost of the project. EfTEN Real Estate Fund and Silikaat Group have prior good cooperation experience with a joint investment in Pärnu – the Lepa Centre. Also, Vello Kunman is an investor at EfTEN Real Estate Fund and partner in the fund manager EfTEN Capital AS. The deal will close after obtaining an approval from Estonian Competition Authority. The volume of the deal remains confidential. Keystone Advisers as well as Nordeus law office acted as buy-side advisor for the sales transaction and Nordic Hotels Consulting and PwC Legal as sell-side advisor.

Hotel Palace is located in the heart of Tallinn at Vabaduse väljak 3 / Pärnu mnt 14. The building was built in 1937 and was already initially constructed as a hotel. The last full renovation of the building took place in 1989.

The acquisition marks the 15th object in EfTEN Real Estate Fund’s portfolio, with a total 83 000 m2 of rental area, divided into office, service, accommodation, warehousing and public sector of property.

EfTEN Real Estate Fund is established by EfTEN Capital AS, the fund manager, in year 2008. The fund invests in commercial real estate properties; a portfolio of commercial real estate has a total of 15 objects. EfTEN Capital AS is an asset management company founded in 2008, specialising in real estate investments. EfTEN Capital is licensed as a fund manager by Estonian FSA. The company also offers private portfolio management.

New transaction: Sale of Ehituse ABC

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Press release 2008.04.09

Saint-Gobain Distribution Nordic AB(Saint Gobain DN), has acquired the Estonian building materials chain, Famar-Desi AS, with14 stores in Estonia and Latvian companys Famar-Desi SIA with two stores in Latvia and Famar-Desi Invest SIA. Through Optimera Gruppen AS Saint-Gobain DN already has strong positions in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and this acquisition is an important element in the company’s strategy for Nordic and Baltic growth.Famar-Desi will continue its operations as part of Optimera Gruppen, under the new business-name Optimera Estonia AS. Brand name Ehituse ABC will be maintained. The company will be headed by Mr Dmitri Drajev as CEO and Anton Kutser as CFO. Optimera Estonia will also be responsible for Optimera’s activities in the Latvian market, under the legal name Optimera Latvia SIA, headed by Mr Marko Soots as CEO. The brand name Būvniecības ABC will be maintained. The acquired businesses had a 2006 turnover of EEK 1.7 billion and have a total of 700 employees.“We must have good steerage way on our existing business before entering new markets, and that’s what we’ve now got. After working purposefully on development and growth in our Norwegian and Swedish building materials businesses, we feel we’re well prepared to make a broader commitment to the Nordic market. We share Optimera’s ambitions, and that makes such a commitment possible both strategically and financially.”“We’ve followed developments in Famar-Desi with interest over a period,” notes Harald Tyrdal, chief executive of Optimera Gruppen.

© Keystone Advisers