A bloodbath, says Sverre Linton, general counsel at Aktiespararna, about the consequences for the company’s existing owners.
In practice, Viaplay’s owners – including the major owner Schibsted – will vote on a plan that means they give away almost all of their influence over the company to new main owners: French Canal Plus and Czech PPF.
– It is incredibly brutal for the existing shareholders, says Sverre Linton about the rescue plan.
The owners take the hit
He is critical of the fact that Viaplay has not clarified at an early stage how bad things looked for the company and its owners, in order to guide all the small savers who are now affected.
– Now we have a bloodbath, where the company hopefully gets to keep its head, he says.
Customers have already felt Viaplay’s crisis with sharp price increases and paused investments. There have also been major staff cuts.
Now it’s time for the owners to take the hit – since Viaplay got in over their head with controversial bets on expensive sports rights and a leverage ratio that has become unsustainable in the high interest rate situation.
“We are looking at our possibilities”
The Norwegian major shareholder Schibsted – which also owns Blocket, Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet – bought in as a major shareholder in Viaplay as recently as September and owns just over 10 percent of the shares. The investment cost approximately SEK 380 million.
However, these shares will become almost worthless as a result of the rescue plan that Wednesday’s meeting will decide on.
Jann-Boje Meinecke, head of investor relations at Schibsted, does not want to comment on the potential financial impact of the Viaplay investment.
– We are looking at our opportunities in this process and will come back with information to the market when we think it is right to do so, he says.