Pan-European newspaper publisher Mecom is selling its Norwegian business Edda Media to rival A-Pressen for €221.8 ($299.67/£190.79) million.
But Mecom is not handing over its Sweetdeal daily deals site and says: “We have also agreed that we plan to explore opportunities for co-investing in and exploiting digital product development.”
Former Endemol commercial chief and Disney-ABC-ESPN (NYSE: DIS) EVP Tom Toumazis became Mecom CEO this year.
Edda operates 33 newspaper and websites. Its half-year revenue and profit have grown this year, with circulations down only one percent.
A-Pressen operates around 50 local and regional newspapers, plus local TV and radio channels and its own news agency, Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. Edda’s half-year online revenue grew 24 percent, as it grew its shareof the market to 13 percent.
The pair plus Schibsted are Norway’s three biggest media companies, so this indicates consolidation, especially at the local level, of the kind other countries might also see. In the UK, everyone is watching to see whether DMGT will sell Northcliffe to Trinity Mirror.