News
Just five years after acquiring TV4 from Bonnier, the TV business has reportedly lost over half its value
Swedish telecoms giant Telia is contemplating the sale of its broadcasting unit TV4, according to a report from Swedish media outlet Affaersvaerlden.
The report claims that Telia is holding talks with numerous interested buyers, including Nordic media firms Schibsted (Norway), Bonnier (Sweden), and Egmont (Denmark).
Telia acquired TV4 Group from Bonnier in 2019 for SEK 10 billion ($960.2 million). Since then, however, the broadcasting unit’s value has plummeted, with Telia noting a downturn in advertising revenues, as well as challenges surrounding premium sports content, as being the primary factors in TV4’s decline.
Should a sale of the unit get the greenlight, TV4’s price is likely to be around SEK 5 billion ($480 million) and potentially as low as SEK 3–4 billion ($288–384 million).”We don’t comment on rumours and speculations,” Telia spokesperson Tobias Gyhlenius said in a comment to Reuters.
“The media industry is in a big shift, our focus is on returning the TV and media business to profitable sustainable growth, accelerate its digitalisation, and become even more relevant for viewers and advertisers,” he added.
According to TV4’s former CEO Jan Scherman, the acquisition was a bad idea from the very beginning. He told the news programme on TV4 that “Telia didn’t understand what company they were getting into, and TV4 didn’t really understand Telia. It was not a perfect match.”
He added that the initial price of the unit was much too high, quipping that “the Bonnier family must have laughed all the way to the bank!”
Keep up to date with the latest telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter
Also in the news:
South Korean president backs semiconductor mega cluster investment
Malaysia to launch second 5G network alongside DNB
BT signs connectivity deal with Iraqi gas firm
