Schibsted reorganises its business units and adapts its group management structure. The two units, Newspapers and TV, Film & Publishing, will be replaced by a geographical structure consisting of Norway, Sweden and International as new business units. Gunnar Strömblad, CEO of Svenska Dagbladet, has been appointed Executive Vice President and will join the group management with responsibility for Sweden.
The business unit Norway consists of the media houses Aftenposten and VG, the search engine company Schibsted Søk, Schibsted Trykk and Schibsted’s ownership in the regional newspapers. Executive Vice President Birger Magnus is responsible for Norway, in addition to corporate strategy and human resources. Mr. Magnus is appointed Chairman of the Board of Aftenposten and VG and will serve as deputy for CEO Kjell Aamot in his absence.
The unit Sweden consists of the media houses Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet, Metronome Film & Television, Sandrew Metronome and Schibsted’s ownership in the mobile content company Aspiro. Gunnar Strömblad, present CEO of Svenska Dagbladet, has been appointed Executive Vice President and is responsible for Sweden. Mr. Strömblad will continue as CEO of Svenska Dagbladet until his successor has been appointed.
The business unit International consists of Schibsted’s operations outside of Scandinavia. Executive Vice President Sverre Munck is responsible for this business unit in addition to the further international expansion of Schibsted. The most important parts of the unit are 20 Minutes in France and Spain, operations in the Baltics, in addition to online classified services in Spain and Austria.
Executive Vice President Jan Erik Knarbakk has been appointed Head of a newly established staff unit for publishing policies, public affairs and external communication. Mr. Knarbakk is also responsible for Schibsted’s ownership in Norwegian TV 2 and Swedish TV 4 in addition to the book and magazine publishing house Schibsted Forlagene.
Trond Berger continues as CFO and Executive Vice President of finance, treasury, investor relations (IR), M&A, legal affairs and real estate. He is also responsible for coordinating IT and purchasing within the group.
Enclosed is an overview of Schibsted’s new organisation.
Contact person:
Kjell Aamot, tel. +47 23 10 66 90
Oslo, January 20th, 2006
Schibsted ASA
Gisle Glück Evensen
Investor Relations
New organisational structure: