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overview
holdings
chronology
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overview
This
profile considers the Helsinki-based Alma Media group.
It covers -
introduction
The Finnish Alma Media group
is a television, radio, newspaper, magazine and book publishing
conglomerate.
It competes with Sanoma WSOY
and other regional operators such as Schibsted
and Bonnier.
the group
Alma
Media is active in Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and
Latvia.
As of December 2004 it was 33% owned by Bonnier (up from
24% in 1999). In February 2005 Bonnier and Proventus (which
bought an 8% stake) jointly acquired Alma's broadcasting
division (inc Finnish TV channel MTV3, a majority holding
in the Finnish radio station Radio Nova and 23.4% of Swedish
TV4 AB) for €463 million. The deal followed an unsolicited
€705m bid for Alma by Schibsted.
It is expected that Almanova, a newly established company,
will acquire the Bonnier (33%) and Proventus (8%) stake
in Alma Media for €340 million.
Alma was the first Finnish media company to have nationwide
operations in newspapers, television and radio. It is
the second-largest Finnish media group by turnover, albeit
significantly smaller than SanomaWSOY.
Its main businesses are
- newspaper
publishing
- production
and distribution of business information
- television
and radio broadcasting
- new
media
-
printing.
Sales
in 2001 were €480m. The Group has approximately
4,000 employees.
studies
There are no major English-language studies specific to
Alma Media.
Rauno Endén 1996 A History of Broadcasting in Finland
(not sighted for this profile) covers the complicated
history of Finnish commercial and public sector broadcasting.
There is a succinct account in the 1999 paper
by Johanna Sumiala-Seppänen on 'A Longstanding Experiment'
- The History of the Finnish Broadcasting Model.
A description of the newspaper landscape is here
and Medialinnakkeet
considers ownership of the Finnish media as a whole.
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