Alma Media to raise holding in direct marketing company TietoEnator 121 Oy to 100%

ALMA MEDIA CORP. STOCK EXCH. RELEASE 18 MAY 2006, 3.00 P.M.  1 (2)

 

ALMA MEDIA TO RAISE HOLDING IN DIRECT MARKETING COMPANY TIETOENATOR 121 OY TO 100%

 

Publishing company Kustannus Oy Kauppalehti, part of the Alma Media Group, will raise its holding in the direct marketing company TietoEnator 121 Oy from 49% to 100% by acquiring TietoEnator’s 51% stake as of 1 July 2006. In doing so, Alma Media is exercising its option, agreed when the original transaction was signed on 30 May 2005. The acquisition increases Kauppalehti group’s annual net sales by some 15%, or EUR 9 million. The transaction price for the holding to be acquired will be EUR 3.4 million.

 

TietoEnator 121 Oy specializes in producing high-value-added services for targeted and interactive marketing. When established in summer 2005 the company was already the Finnish market leader in direct marketing services based on population and traffic information systems. The company offers a full-service concept that includes addresses, profiles and analyses of companies and consumers, as well as target group consulting, customer register management, printing and mailing, and management and analysis of customer feedback.

 

In 2005 TietoEnator and Kauppalehti formed a jointly owned company called TietoEnator 121 Oy, in which TietoEnator held 51% and Kauppalehti 49%, the latter paying EUR 3.3 million for its 49% holding. The competition authorities approved the transaction, which came into effect on 1 July 2005 and the company started operating on the same day. Kauppalehti had the option to purchase TietoEnator’s holding in the company subject to its successful start-up.

 

Kauppalehti will take over the company, its assets and liabilities. The company has annual net sales in the order of EUR 9 million and an operating margin in excess of 10%. The company’s net sales are forecast to grow in the years ahead and its financial position is solid. The transaction price for the stake to be acquired is EUR 3.4 million. The company has 66 employees. A principal condition of the deal is that TietoEnator remains the company’s information technology supplier.

 

Kauppalehti group’s net sales in 2005 totalled EUR 53.8 million and its operating profit was EUR 7.1 million, or 13.2% of net sales.

 

“121 has proven to be a successful venture and, as planned, we have now raised our holding to one hundred per cent. The company’s services closely complement Kauppalehti group’s own offering. The acquisition also supports the Kauppalehti’s aim to reduce its dependency on media advertising,” says Juha Blomster, Head of Kauppalehti group.

 

The company helps businesses increase the value of their existing and future customers, says Timo Lehtinen, 121’s managing director. “Our customers wish to maximize the value of their customer portfolios by gaining, keeping and enhancing lifetime customer accounts. Within one year we have developed a number of new services, the most recent of which makes it just as easy to buy and use targeted marketing and any other media.”

 

The company is the first in the world that is able to use public population registers to collate target groups based on the values of these people. The company has developed its own 121Valuegraphics value classification system for this purpose.

 

Further information (most easily reachable after 4.15 p.m. EET today):

 

Juha Blomster, Head of Kauppalehti group, tel. +358 10 665 2360 or +358 400 453 233

Jorma Raike, Director, Kauppalehti Corporate Services, tel. +358 10 665 2300 or +358 40 707 8572

Timo Lehtinen, Managing Director, TietoEnator 121 Oy, tel. +358 40 5023 298

                                                        2 (2)

 

ALMA MEDIA CORPORATION                                

 

Terhi Lambert-Karjalainen

Communications Manager

 

                                                                 

 

Alma Media is a Finnish media group that publishes newspapers, produces and distributes economic information, and maintains online marketplaces. The Group’s portfolio contains business, afternoon, regional, local and town papers. Alma Media also owns leading online marketplaces, a business that it is expanding into markets outside Finland.

 

Alma Media’s best known products are the Aamulehti, Iltalehti and Kauppalehti papers and the Etuovi.com home-buying Internet service. The Group derives about half of its net sales from media advertising and roughly 40 % from newspaper circulation revenues. Net sales of continuing operations in 2005 amounted to MEUR 286, generating an operating profit of MEUR 42 or an operating margin of 14.8 %. The company’s share is quoted on the Main List of the Helsinki Exchanges. More information at http://www.almamedia.fi/home.