Alma Media to acquire Uusi Suomi

Alma Media Corporation                  Press release                16 August 2016 at 10 a.m. 

ALMA MEDIA TO ACQUIRE UUSI SUOMI

Alma Media has agreed to acquire the business of Uusi Suomi, a news and blog service that specialises in social dialogue. The acquisition is estimated to be be finalised on 1 September 2016. The majority owner of Uusi Suomi is the publisher Niklas Herlin. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. 

Uusi Suomi will be part of the Alma Talent business unit, which specialises in professional and financial media and publishes titles such as Kauppalehti, Talouselämä and Tekniikka&Talous. Uusi Suomi’s eight employees will be transferred to Alma Talent in the acquisition as existing employees, retaining their current terms and conditions of employment. 

Measured by the number of visitors, Uusi Suomi is one of the largest online services in Finland. Its average weekly reach in 2016, measured by TNS Metrix, has been approximately 450,000. In addition to news services, Uusi Suomi offers its readers the blog services Puheenvuoro and Vapaavuoro. 

– We are pleased to bring Uusi Suomi back to Alma Media. Uusi Suomi’s pluralistic, pro-entrepreneurial and liberal journalistic policy is an excellent fit with the Alma Talent media portfolio and it solidifies our position as a platform for social dialogue. Uusi Suomi will bring a substantial increase to the number of visitors to the Alma Talent network, making us an even stronger player in the digital media market, says Arno Ahosniemi, Senior Editor-in-Chief in charge of Alma Talent’s Finnish editorial teams. 

– The Uusi Suomi online service has been developed independently for nine years, and joining Alma Media is a natural step in its evolution. We have engaged in commercial cooperation with Alma Media through the years, so we are quite familiar with the Group. I am confident that the change in ownership will set Uusi Suomi on a course towards a very bright future as part of a significant media conglomerate, says Markku Huusko, Editor-in-Chief of Uusi Suomi and Managing Director of the company that publishes it. 

Markku Huusko will stay on in his current position as the Editor-in-Chief of Uusi Suomi. 

The online paper Uusi Suomi was established in 2007 after Niklas Herlin acquired the share capital and trademark rights of Kustannusosakeyhtiö Uusi Suomi from Alma Media. The printed newspaper Uusi Suomi and its predecessors, Uusi Suometar and Suometar, are considered to be the first newspaper of Alma Media’s media history, which can be traced back nearly 170 years. The first issue of Suometar was published in 1847.  

The acquisition will not have an effect on Alma Media’s result.  

For more information, please contact:
Arno Ahosniemi, Senior Editor-in-Chief, Alma Talent, tel. +358 40 588 6834
Markku Huusko, Editor-in-Chief, Uusi Suomi, tel. +358 400 629 839
Juha-Petri Loimovuori, CEO, Alma Talent, tel. +358 50 051 1036 

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a media company focusing on the service business and journalistic content. The company’s best-known brands are Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Affärsvärlden, Iltalehti, Aamulehti, Etuovi.com and Monster. Alma Media builds sustainable growth for its customers by utilising the opportunities of digitality, including information services, system and expert services and advertising solutions. Alma Media’s operations have expanded from Finland to the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Central Europe. Alma Media employs approximately 2,500 professionals (excluding delivery personnel), of whom approximately 30% work outside Finland. Alma Media’s revenue in 2015 was EUR 291.5 million. Alma Media’s share is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki. Read more at www.almamedia.com.

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