MTG completes sale of Czech TV assets

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG president and CEO.

MTG has completed the sale of its Czech TV assets as it continues its transformation from “traditional national broadcaster into global digital entertainer”.

In a statement, MTG confirmed it has closed the sale of its 50% shareholding in FTV Prima Holding to Denemo Media for a total cash consideration of €116 million.

The Nordic company plans to use the proceeds from the sale to increase its ownership in online games developer InnoGames from 21% to 51%.

MTG first announced in January that it would sell FTV Prima Holding, a company that operates one of the biggest free-to-air networks in the Czech republic, Prima, alongside a sting of other Prima-branded TV channels and the Prima Play streaming service.

MTG bought its 50% stake of the business in 2005 for €87 million in cash. Including dividends received and the sale price, MTG estimates that its total cash return on the investment amounts to SEK1.6 billion (€167 million).

“The sale will result in a net capital loss of preliminary some SEK110 million. All items related to FTV Prima Holding will be reported as discontinued operations in MTG’s Q2 interim report,” said MTG.

To read more about MTG’s digital ambitions, see DTVE’s recent interview with Arnd Benninghoff, the head of the company’s digital division, MTGx.