MTG to sell Ukrainian TV assets

Modern Times Group (MTG) is preparing for its latest sell-off, this time offloading its Ukrainian pay TV business to a local operator.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann

The Scandinavian giant has signed an agreement to sell its Viasat Ukraine business to Kiev-based 1+1 Media Group, with completion subject to local market regulatory approval.

Viasat Ukraine offers packages of up to 110 TV channels on its satellite pay TV platform and also provides the country’s largest telecoms operator Kyivstar with the internet pay TV platform for its recently launched TV and VoD services.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG president and CEO, said the sale was part of the company’s “ongoing strategic portfolio review.”

“The Ukrainian team have created popular TV entertainment platforms and products, and we wish them every success in the future,” he added.

MTG has been aggressively moving into digital over the past year, acquiring 74% of ESL, the world’s largest e-sports company, in addition to taking stakes in Zoomin and Splay.

It has also sold off TV interests in Russia and Hungary, while cutting its workforce in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the UK.

The company is also understood to be considering offers for its production and distribution division Nice Entertainment Group, as revealed by C21 yesterday.

Nice, which includes 28 companies in 16 countries, was acquired by MTG in a deal worth €84.4m (US$114.2m) less than three years ago, but the Stockholm-based firm is understood to have received approaches.

Nice is one of Europe’s biggest producers, with a portfolio that includes Monster, One Big Happy Family, Playroom, Rakett and Novemberfilm in Norway, as well as Strix in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, Paprika Latino in Eastern Europe and Redaktörerna in Sweden.