The Trust supports the demerger of Schibsted

– The demerger is a wise move to enable the international marketplaces to optimize its value creation within a new […]

– The demerger is a wise move to enable the international marketplaces to optimize its value creation within a new structure, says Ole Jacob Sunde, Board Chair of the Tinius Trust.

Schibsted ASA has announced today that it will initiate a process to reorganize the company into two growth-oriented companies. The international online classifieds operations (preliminarily named “MPI”) will be spun off and established as an independent, listed company. Schibsted, meanwhile, will comprise all activities in Norway, Sweden and Finland – including Finn.no, Blocket.se and Tori.fi.

The Tinius Trust fully supports the Board’s proposal. The Trust owns 25.6 percent of votes and 23.8 percent of the total shares in Schibsted ASA through the fully controlled Blommenholm Industrier AS.

– The Tinius Trust is supporting the long term, healthy financial development of Schibsted. The demerger is a wise move to enable MPI to optimize its value creation within a new structure,” says Ole Jacob Sunde, Board Chair of the Tinius Trust.

– The Trust is committed to maintaining our current shareholdings in Schibsted. The Trust’s direct ownership in MPI will be seen as a long-term financial holding, Sunde adds.

Schibsted will continue to invest, building on its footprints in the Nordics. Schibsted’s strong track record, competence and market positions constitute a solid platform for innovation. In this connection, the Board of Schibsted has concluded the strategic review of Lendo and decided that the company will continue as a fully-owned entity, constituting a driving force in our cluster of personal finance-related operations.

Schibsted will retain a majority ownership in MPI at the time of the listing. Schibsted intends to remain an active, significant long-term owner in MPI, and the size and time horizon of Schibsted’s ownership will be tailored to support and develop shareholder value for both companies. MPI will be one of the global leaders in online classifieds, fully equipped to achieve long term growth with high profit margins.

– In our opinion, the demerger initiates a boost for both of the two growth companies. As a long-term investor, the Tinius Trust will always work to achieve the healthy financial development of the Schibsted Group, Kjersti Løken Stavrum, CEO of the Tinius Trust says.

You can read the full statement from Schibsted Media Group here.