Sanoma agrees to sell 50% in Cosmopolitan’s publisher in Russia
MOSCOW, Dec 30 (PRIME) -- International media group Sanoma has agreed to sell 50% in Fashion Press, which publishes magazines Cosmopolitan and Esquire in Russia, to a group of local investors, headed by fund Inventure Partners, and the deal is subject to the Russian government’s approval, Sanoma said in a statement Wednesday.
Sanoma also agreed to sell the remaining operations in United Press and its 50% stake in Mondadori Independent Media, the publisher of Grazia magazine, to them.
These transactions are a result of the strategic review announced by Sanoma in October 2013 to re-design its consumer media operations, which led to the previously announced divestment of its other Russian assets such as business daily Vedomosti and several leading magazine titles.
Foreign companies can own no more than 20% in Russian mass media under the law, which comes into force on January 1, 2016. Shareholders must adjust their ownership in compliance with the law by January 1, 2017; otherwise a mass media will be closed.
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