RTL Group to exercise option to sell 7.5% of NMG
MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The European concern RTL Group intends to sell out of National Media Group, a 7.5% stake in which it acquired in 2011 in exchange for a 30% stake of the television channel REN TV.
RTL has a put option for the NMG stock it holds, which it is preparing to exercise September 16, RTL said.
On June 30, RTL put the value of the stake at 81 million euros. Judging from that, all of NMG could be worth some 1.1 billion rubles.
NMG was set up in 2009 through the merger of the media assets of Rossiya Bank, Alexei Mordashov, Surgutneftegas and insurance group SOGAZ. NMG owns a blocking stake in Channel One, media holding company REN TV, television and radio company Petersburg - Channel Five, Izvestia newspaper and Russian News Service radio station. Rossiya Bank structures own Russia's largest TV commercial agency Video International.
NMG and structures associated to it also own a blocking stake in Telcrest, which owns a blocking stake in CTC Media (television channels CTC, Domashniy and Perets).
NMG earned 12.1 billion rubles in sales revenues last year, 23% more than the year before. Net profits weighed in at 756 million rubles, up from 350 million rubles.
RTL has one of the six seats on the NMG board of directors. The board is chaired by Kirill Kovalchuk, nephew of the bank Rossiya's main stockholder Yury Kovalchuk.