Purchase of majority ownership of Maaleht


The Ekspress Group signed a preliminary contract on 11 June 2007 for the
purchase of 4049 shares in Maaleht, representing 51.9% of the company's share
capital. 
The shares are being purchased at the price of 6666.66 kroons per share, making
the total value of all Maaleht shares 52 million kroons. 

The Ekspress Group also plans to purchase the remaining shares in Maaleht on
the same terms. The buy-out is expected to take place during summer 2007. 

The print-run of Maaleht, which is Estonia's second largest weekly newspaper,
operating for 20 years, is around 50,000. The company also publishes books and
the magazines Maakodu and Maamajandus. Its turnover in 2006 was 52.8 million
kroons, with a profit of 3.3 million kroons. The group's turnover for the first
five months of 2007 was 28.6 million kroons, with a profit of 4.9 million
kroons. 

Maaleht will remain an independent operator, with the Ekspress Group only
seeing changes in the increase of its turnover and profit. The group will also
be able to positively influence the running of Maaleht, improving its
publication and distribution conditions and earning greater revenue from
advertising. 

The buy-out of the shares is in no way connected to one individual and neither
the Supervisory nor the Management Board of the company have any personal
interest in the transaction. 



For further information please contact:
Priit Leito
Director
Ekspress Group
Telephone: +372 669 8080
E-mail: priit@egrupp.ee
GlobeNewswire

Recommended Reading