MTG invests in Splay to accelerate expansion

MTG has increased its shareholding in Splay, the number one multi-channel
network in Scandinavia, from 49% to 81% by buying more shares from the founders
and investing directly in the company to accelerate Splay’s expansion. Splay is
already present in Germany and continues to expand internationally. Splay’s
content is currently generating over 120 million monthly views (up over 900%
since the beginning of 2014) on its 430 YouTube channels. Splay’s video stars
have 14 million subscribers on YouTube and over 50 million followers on
Instagram.
In just two years, Splay has developed from a Swedish start-up into an
international digital content powerhouse promoting talents across YouTube,
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Splay provides its ‘millenials’ audience with a
wide range of short form comedy, music, sports, fashion, beauty, gaming and vlog
entertainment.

Splay stars include the largest Swedish language YouTube channel “I Just Want To
Be Cool”, as well as popular channels like ‘Clara Henry’ and ‘Rackartygarna’ in
Sweden; ‘Prebz og Dennis’ in Norway; and ‘Kristine Sloth’ in Denmark.

Splay primarily generates its revenues from advertising and influencer marketing
campaigns for global brands like Coca-Cola, Unilever, P&G, McDonalds and
L’Oréal. Splay’s sales grew more than sixfold in 2014 and are expected to double
in 2015.  Splay has recently launched GoSnap (www.gosnap.co) in Scandinavia and
Germany. GoSnap is an influencer marketing tool that connects Splay celebrity
content creators directly with advertisers through a simple and quick online
marketplace.

Splay continues to be managed by founder Vigor Sörman and team, who remain
shareholders, and its results will now be consolidated within MTGx after the
closing of the transaction.

Splay is part of MTG’s fast growing portfolio of complementary digital video
entertainment companies, which include Viaplay (subscription video on demand),
Viagame (esports), NetInfo (Bulgaria’s leading digital service provider), and
MTG’s ‘Play’ advertising video on demand TV sites in 8 European countries. MTG
has also just announced its investment in a majority shareholding in ESL, which
is the world’s largest esports company.

“Splay’s hypergrowth reflects the mass appeal of its content and huge potential
of this proven business model. Splay is a fantastic youth entertainment brand,
and this investment reflects the success of our partnership to date and high
ambition for the future. It is in line with our digital strategy to invest in
relevant, complementary and scalable digital content and communities. We are
only just beginning to realise Splay’s potential, and look forward to working
with this talented and passionate team to grow further and explore new
opportunities together.

Splay’s gaming channels will add further to our esports leadership and expansion
potential with ESL and Viagame. At the same time, the combination with our own
Play TV services will enable each business to grow more quickly, and offer
unique cross-platform reach and promotion opportunities.”

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG President and CEO

“Thanks to our cooperation with MTG, we have gone from a basement company to the
market leader in our home markets. MTG’s continued investment in Splay makes it
possible for us to continue building our brand, develop our talents, and
accelerate our international expansion. We look forward to continuing to work
with MTG to build the digital media house for the next generation of content
creators.”

Vigor Sörman, Founder and CEO of Splay

****
Any questions?
www.mtg.com
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Modern-Times
-Group/184644878213403?fref=ts): facebook.com/MTGAB
 (https://www.facebook.com/MTGAB?fref=ts)Twitter (https://twitter.com/MTGAB):
@mtgab
 (https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=http://mtg.com/&screen_name
= 
MTGAB&tw_p=followbutton&variant=2.0)press@mtg.com (or Anton Gourman 44 759 009
8188)
investors@mtg.com (or Stefan Lycke 46 73 699 27 14)
MTG (Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.)) is an international entertainment group.
Our operations span six continents and include TV channels and platforms, online
services, content production businesses and radio stations. We are also the
largest shareholder in CTC Media, which is Russia’s leading independent media
company. Our shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm (‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’).