Alma Media acquires leading online recruitment services in Slovakia and several neighbouring countries

Alma Media Corporation   Stock Exchange Release    November 15, 2012 at 16.45 (EET)
                  
ALMA MEDIA ACQUIRES LEADING ONLINE RECRUITMENT SERVICES IN SLOVAKIA AND SEVERAL NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
The acquisition makes Alma Media the leading job portal company in the region

Alma Media Corporation has today acquired full ownership of the leading online recruitment assets in the Slovakian and Croatian markets, and minority stakes of job portals operating in the Serbian and Bosnian markets. The acquisition complements Alma Media’s already strong recruitment service offering in the Czech Republic, the Baltic countries and Finland and brings synergies between the operating countries.

In the transaction Alma Media acquired the Eastern European job portal assets of A&N Media Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust Plc. The transaction price is 24 MEUR on an enterprise value basis. Alma Media finances the transaction using its existing credit facilities.

The largest of the acquired assets is Profesia s.r.o., which is the dominant recruitment service provider in Slovakia and also operates challenger job portals in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The acquired Croatian company, Tau on-line d.o.o., operates moj-posau.net, which is the leading job portal in the country. The transaction also includes Autovia, the second largest used car portal service in Slovakia as well as a 25% ownership stake in Infostud 3 d.o.o., operating the market leading recruitment portal and a car portal in Serbia, and a 30% ownership stake in Development Studio d.o.o., a company behind the market leader job portal in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Calculated on a pro rata basis from the ownership stakes actually acquired, the annual revenue of the acquired assets is approximately 8.5 MEUR for the financial year ending September 2012. The corresponding combined EBITDA from the assets is approximately 2.8 MEUR or 33% of revenues during the same period. The acquired companies will be reported as part of Alma Media’s Digital Consumer Services segment.

The acquisition is in line with Alma Media’s strategy to seek growth from digital services and further internationalise its operations.

“Acquiring these portals in Slovakia and its neighbouring countries makes Alma Media the clear market leader in online recruitment services in the region. This is an excellent continuation to our acquisitions of LMC in the Czech Republic and CV Online in the Baltic countries earlier this year. The skilled people of Profesia and the other acquired companies bring even more know-how and strength to our recruitment offering” says Raimo Mäkilä, Senior Vice President of Alma Media’s Marketplaces business unit.

Alma Media Corporation
Rauno Heinonen
Vice President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

For further information, please contact:
Raimo Mäkilä, Senior Vice President, Marketplaces, tel. +358 10 665 5802

Distribution: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Stock exchange, principal media

Alma Media in brief
Alma Media is a dynamic media company whose best-known products are Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Etuovi.com. Alma Media employs approximately 3,000 professionals. The company’s revenue in 2011 totalled MEUR 316.2 with an operating margin of 13.3 per cent. Alma Media’s share (ALN1V) is listed in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Exchange. Read more at www.almamedia.com.

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