Acquisitions
It's a tempting conclusion to draw after a week that saw Norway's leading media group sell its stake in the country's biggest commercial TV-station, TV2, and one of Scandinavia's most successful internet entrepeneurs launch plans for a new online TV-channel. Of course
Acquisitions
How convenient that I didn't start writing about this proposed merger before it hit the final stages: if I had I'd be on part xxx. The only firm decision reached yesterday was that Adresseavisa, as expected, opted out of the merger. The other parties will continue
Acquisitions
David Montgomery will buy The Mirror with financial backing from Orkla. That is, if we are to take today’s stories in Norwegian media to their logical conclusion and predict a future outcome. And it all started with a throwaway sentence by James Robinson in last week’s Observer… Norwegian
Acquisitions
The papers have been signed, and little can prevent Montgomery from finalising the acquisition of Scandinavia's fifth largest media company. Still, it won't be an easy ride, and the latest addition to Mecom Europe might prove a troublesome child indeed. Expensive credit Mecom agreed to buy
Acquisitions
After months of negotiation, speculation and passionate debate, the deal between Orkla and Mecom has finally been signed, and one of Norway’s largest media companies is set to become British. The deal is expected to be finalised in September/October. In this morning’s press release Montgomery said: “I
Acquisitions
In Norway, Orkla Media’s journalists have expressed hope the delays in the contractual negotiations between Orkla and Mecom might signify that the deal will fall through. Their worries about Mecom's prospective takeover seem to have been confirmed by Norwegian news magazine Memo, which, for its in depth
Acquisitions
DN reports that Orkla’s controversial sale of its newspaper arm to Mecom is expected to be signed in London very soon. To finalise the negotiations in London was probably a choice made for practical reasons, but it is also a wise one: a source I talked to recently said
Acquisitions
Though Norwegian media have been awash with speculations about who would be Orkla Media's next owner for months, Orkla's chairman Stein Erik Hagen yesterday revealed there was never much choice. In an exclusive interview with Aftenposten, Hagen said: "It had to be a private equity
Acquisitions
DN reported yesterday that Montgomery had raised the necessary funds to buy Orkla Media. The newspapers said the deal is expected to be completed and signed on Monday 17 July. "To the very last, we have clung to the hope that the new owner would not be Mecom,"
Acquisitions
Before the weekend he was likened to "Rommel" and described as a man who would throw the 'Norwegian Enlightenment project over board'. Today David Montgomery was hailed as "a sympathetic and responsible media investor" on the front page of Norway's biggest financial
Acquisitions
Not unexpectedly, Orkla's decision to sell it's newspaper division to Mecom has been condemned from north to south throughout this long and narrow country by journalists and politicians alike. Norway's cultural minister, Trond Giske, has expressed his 'disappointment' and emphasised how he
Acquisitions
It's official: the new owner of Orkla Media is Mecom and David Montgomery. "This is a day of grief Orkla's employees, media plurality and Orkla's credibility," says Carine Johansen, a journalist union representative and board member of Orkla Media to Journalisten. More