MTG,the company behind Viasat and TV3, is to divide into two separate companies. Shares in the new Nordic Entertainment Group will be distributed among existing shareholders and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
The move follows the ill-fated attempt to merge the Nordic Entertainment and MTG Studios businesses with Denmark’s TDC Group.
Nordic Entertainment will bring together MTG Nordic Entertainment, MTG Studios and Splay Networks. It will be headed by Anders Jensen, currently MTG Executive Vice President; CEO of Nordic Entertainment.
David Chance, MTG Chairman of the Board said: “MTG has successfully transformed from a traditional national broadcaster into a global digital entertainer. Today, MTG is leading esports into the global mainstream, captivating hundreds of millions of online gamers, and creating video content that generates billions of views around the world. At the same time, the company has developed into a fully integrated broadcasting, digital communication and content production company in the Nordic region, with unique content that engages diverse audiences across multiple platforms and screens.”
The remaining Modern Times Group – will comprise MTG’s current esports (ESL, DreamHack and ESEA), online gaming (InnoGames and Kongregate) and digital video content (Zoomin.TV, Engage Digital Partners) operations, as well as other minority holdings (Comosa AG and BITKRAFT).
The formal split will be proposed at an Extraordinary General Meeting slated for the second half of 2018.
MTG has undergone a radical transformation in the last three to four years. This has seen the company effectively sell all its operations in Central and Eastern Europe, starting in Russia (Raduga TV and CTC Media) and Ukraine (Viasat Ukraine).
Its most recent transaction, the sale of the Nova Broadcasting Group in Bulgaria to PPF Group, was announced earlier this quarter and is still awaiting regulatory approval.
