Acquisitions
Yet again, we hear tidings that former Mirror-boss, David Montgomery, continues his march across Euorpe. This time the tidings come from France, where his investment vehicle, Mecom, apparently is embroiled in a bidding war with the French Hersant Media Group (GHM) for a number of French regional papers owned by
Acquisitions
Hot on the heels of the Wegener acquisition in Holland, it seems Montgomery is about to add yet another title to his rapidly expanding European media group, this time in Eastern Europe. I think this article says that Mecom is in negotiations to buy "Życia Warszawy", but
Acquisitions
The buzz around today's announcement of Mecom's takeover plans for Dutch regional newspaper group Wegener started ticking into my newsreader this morning via Dutch twitters, blogs and newspapers. Monty continues his march across Europe, wrote Charles Pretzlik in his FT business blog around noon. It'
Acquisitions
Yesterday Norway's minister of culture, Trond Giske, proposed to establish the rights and duties of the editor (scroll down for full text) by law to protect editors, and their editorial freedom, from meddling proprietors. Giske cited a dramatic change in the nature of the country's media
Acquisitions
In line with the company's professed desire for new international, especially American, acquisitions, the Swedish media giant scooped up another chunk of American magazines this week, this time from Time Inc, just in front of bidders such as U2 lead singer Bono, Active Interest Media and Intermedia Partners.
Acquisitions
So ends the saga of Orkla and Mecom. After attempting to get rid of its media arm for at least ten months, and attracting a lot of bad PR in the process, Orkla has sold the 19,97pc stake the company was forced to take in Mecom to finalise the
Acquisitions
A new world knocked on the door of Norwegian media in the shape of former Mirror boss David Montgomery, when his investment vehicle Mecom acquired Orkla Media, last year. Other Nordic companies had previously been involved on the owner side of various Norwegian media, but Montgomery was perceived as a
Acquisitions
This time, it's for real... The internet portal has confirmed the purchase, but refused to disclose the price tag. However, Forbes quotes sources indicating a sum just above $10m. Tellingly, this is how Bloggers Blog describes MyBlogLog: it "helps add social networking and community features to blogs.
Acquisitions
The Scandinavian media landscape changed irrevocably in 2006: Orkla sold its media arm to a British company built on borrowed money, the region's media giants were busy consolidating and expanding internationally, and Swedes and Danes were bombarded with freesheets from left, right and centre In what has been
Acquisitions
2006 was a year of big ethical challenges and high-strung financial deals, or "The year of Mohammed and Montgomery" as Norwegian trade journal Journalisten so aptly headlined its summary of Norway's media year. The year started with Norwegian and Danish flags and embassies set ablaze in
Acquisitions
If the year behind us is anything to go by, the Scandinavian media market will be an interesting one to watch also in the year to come. 2006 was so packed with media wars, controversies, upheaval and startling revelations that it almost beggared belief. On a serious note, it was
Acquisitions
Hot on the heels of Google's acquisition of You Tube, wiki software company Jotspot has become the latest addition to the Google empire. Here's Jotspot co-founder Joe Kraus announcing the deal on Google blog. "It’s obvious to anyone following developments in the Web 2.