MTG completes $124m Baltic sell-off

MIPCOM: Scandinavian media firm MTG has completed the sale of its broadcast network in the Baltic region, offloading its businesses in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for €115m (US$124m).

The free TV, pay TV, digital and radio businesses have been acquired by Providence Equity Partners, the global asset-management company that owns Eastern European mobile operator Bite.

The deal, announced in March and closed this week, includes three TV channels in Estonia (TV3, TV3+, TV6), five in Latvia (TV3, TV3+, TV6, Kanals 2, LNT) and three in Lithuania (TV3, TV6, TV8), as well as numerous regional pay TV channels.

MTG has already sold its stake in Russian broadcaster CTC Media, following local regulatory changes, and offloaded two Hungarian channels to Sony Pictures Television. Late last year it completed the sale of its free TV broadcasting and production businesses in Ghana and Nigeria.

The firm has simultaneously been investing in multichannel networks including Splay and Zoomin.TV and rolling out Viaplay across Eastern Europe.