Metro International divests Metro Italy's operations and signs
franchise agreement
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Metro International S.A. ("Metro International") today announces thatit has entered into an agreement for the sale of its Italianoperations to New Media Enterprises S.r.L. as a going concerneffective 31 July 2009 for an undisclosed amount. As a part of thistransaction, Metro International has entered into a franchiseagreement with the new owners who will continue to publish the Metronewspaper in Italy.New Media Enterprises is an Italian publishing company controlled bySalvatore Puzzo, who has extensive experience in publishing andadvertising, both as a publisher (including Ciao 2001, Qui Giovani,Nuova Economia and other publications), and as a marketing andcommunication expert. Litosud S.r.L., an Italian printing company,holds a minority stake in New Media Enterprises.Mr. Puzzo said: "The acquisition of Metro Italy represents a greatand challenging opportunity for New Media Enterprises and provides achance to cooperate with the leading international group in the freepress. I'm confident that this cooperation shall be successful andwill allow us to enhance the Italian operations of Metro".Mr. Per Mikael Jensen, CEO and President of Metro International said:"This deal is one of several transactions that Metro Internationalhas done in an attempt to consolidate in a number of our Europeanmarkets in line with our strategy. The deal allows MetroInternational to continue to maintain its existing global reach andpan-European distribution platform which is important to ourinternational advertisers. In addition to their experience andknow-how, the new shareholders will benefit from the synergies withtheir existing operations and will therefore be in a good position todrive Metro Italy to profitability. This transaction is therefore tothe benefit of all parties".The transaction is estimated to have a positive cash flow impact forMetro International of approximately EUR 1.5 million in 2009. Therewill also be a one off positive gain on disposal of the operations.The transaction is expected to be completed later today July 31st2009.For further information, please visit www.metro.lu or contact:Per Mikael Jensen, CEO and President Tel: +44 (0)78 4167 3230Anders Kronborg, CFO Tel: +44 (0)79 1254 0800Silvio De Groot, EVP Tel: +31 6 21 84 37 55 ***ABOUT METRO INTERNATIONAL AND METROMetro is the largest international newspaper in the world. Metro ispublished in over 100 major cities in 19 countries across Europe,North & South America and Asia. Metro has a unique global reach -attracting a young, active, well-educated Metropolitan audience of 17million daily readers.Metro International S.A. shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholmthrough Swedish Depository Receipts of series A and series B underthe symbols MTROA and MTROB.http://hugin.info/132142/R/1331940/315349.pdfThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 31.07.2009 - 07:55 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 4192
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