MTG Sells Stake in Zitius Swedish Communications Operator

Regulatory News:

Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.)(‘MTG’ or ‘the Group’)(STO:MTGA)(STO:MTGB), the international entertainment group, today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its total shareholding, consisting of 80% of the shares in the Swedish Communications Operator Zitius Service Delivery AB (‘Zitius’), to TeliaSonera AB (‘Telia’) for a cash consideration that values Zitius at an enterprise value (100%) of SEK 380 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval from the Swedish competition authority.

The Open Access network model is specific to the Swedish broadband market and provides an open environment where multiple service providers can sign agreements with a communications operator to market their services to the end consumer, typically in multi-dwelling residential apartment buildings in towns and cities.

Since acquiring Zitius in August 2012, MTG has invested in the expansion of the company’s operations, and Zitius has won a number of additional distribution contracts in 2013. This has expanded its number of connected households by 12% and active households, subscribing to at least one service, by 34%.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President and CEO of MTG, commented: "The Open Access market in Sweden has evolved rapidly over the last 16 months. The increased competition between communications operators has resulted in large contracts changing hands, as well as significant improvements in the services available in the different networks. This proves that the Open Access network model is both sustainable and benefits consumers through freedom of choice. As a result, it is no longer necessary for MTG to own Zitius.”

"We have a platform agnostic pay-TV strategy in the Nordic region and we will continue to offer our free-TV and pay-TV channels to subscribers in Zitius’ networks, as well as distribute our channel packages through a broad range of other third party pay-TV networks.”

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Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment group with operations that span four continents and include free-TV, pay-TV, radio and content production businesses. MTG’s Viasat Broadcasting operates free-TV and pay-TV channels, which are available on Viasat’s own satellite platforms and third party networks, and also distributes TV content over the internet. MTG is also the largest shareholder in CTC Media, which is Russia’s leading independent television broadcaster.

Modern Times Group is a growth company and generated net sales of SEK 13.3 billion in 2012. MTG’s Class A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm’s Large Cap index under the symbols ‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’.

The information in this announcement is that which Modern Times Group MTG AB is required to disclose under the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. It was released for publication at 08:30 CET on 18 December 2013.

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