Schibsted and Telia/Telenor have reached an agreement on the terms for restructuring their jointly controlled portal companies in Norway and Sweden, including Schibsteds portal company in Denmark and Telia/Telenors portal company in Finland.
The 4 companies will be organized under one holding company, with Schibsted holding approximately 56%, Telia/Telenor approximately 40% and employees and others approximately 4%.
A number of obligations and restrictions currently in effect on the two owning groups relating to the jointly controlled companies will be removed. The current bundling arrangements betweeen SOL and Telia/Telenors ISP companies will be continued through arms-length agreements as of January 1, 2000. The holding company will likely be formed with effect as of January 1, 2000. The combination will not have material effect on Schibsteds accounts in 1999. The parties have further agreed to prepare for a listing during the 2. or 3. quarter of year 2000 in Stockholm, with a parallell foreign listing as an option.
Detailed agreements will be prepared, and approvals from relevant public bodies have to be obtained. The agreement is subject to board approval from both parties, to be discussed no later than December 9, 1999.
Commenting on the agreement Executive Vice President Multimedia Sverre Munck says: With this agreement the SOL companies are now in a position to operate as one company throughout the Nordic region. The companys strong market position as the largest Nordic portal player with more than 4 million unique viewers and 150 million page views per month, combined with continuous user driven product development will give even better opportunities for advertisers, partners and companies wishing to reach the Nordic market. Advertisement growth on the Internet is expected to be strong next year, and the SOL companies should be able to capture a large part of this market. The combination of operations will furthermore allow for greater cost efficiencies and more rapid product development across national boundaries. The SOL portals will at all times be more locally relevant than their international competitors. With the planned listing of the new entity the values that have been created by Schibsted and Telia/Telenor through their ambitious internet strategy should become more transparent.
Oslo, 11 November 1999
SCHIBSTED ASA
Mette D. Storvestre
Investor Relations Manager