Telia bought TV4 from Bonniers for close to ten billion kroner in 2019. Now there is talk that the price tag is around half as big, perhaps even lower, writes Affärsvärlden.
TV4’s former CEO, who worked at the company for 20 years, believes that it was a bad deal from the very beginning.
– Telia didn’t understand what company they were getting into, and TV4 didn’t really understand Telia. It was not a perfect match, says Jan Scherman to TV4 Nyheterna.
Scherman believes that Telia paid a “far too high” price for the deal. He adds that a business that is largely based on tableau television poses major challenges.
– The Bonnier family must have laughed all the way to the bank, he says and continues.
– If Telia takes home half of the purchase price for the deal, they should be happy and grateful.
Scherman flags that the company’s value may drop further if the sale of TV4 is delayed.
Multiple stakeholders
Among the interested parties are the media giant Schibsted, Bonniers and Danish Egmont, according to the business newspaper.
Scherman takes a positive view of the stakeholders mentioned. There is an “incredible coordination effect” with, for example, the Danish media company Egmont, which also owns Norwegian TV-2, he explains.
– It is the best thing that can happen to TV4. Hope it goes smoothly.
He adds that TV4 could end up in a “very dangerous” situation if Telia does not succeed in the sale.
– Then it is clear that Telia does not want to keep TV4 as part of the company, and that is not good.
There has been speculation in recent years that Telia’s purchase was not a successful deal, and that the state-owned telecommunications giant wanted to get rid of TV4.
Telia does not want to comment
Telia does not want to speculate about a possible sale.
“We do not comment on rumors and speculation. The media industry is undergoing rapid change and our focus is on returning our TV and media operations to profitable growth by working further with digitization and becoming even more relevant to our viewers and our advertisers,” writes Telia’s communications manager Tobias Gyhlénius to TV4 Nyheterna.