Norway's Schibsted to break in two, shares jump

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Norway's Schibsted soared on Monday, after the media group announced plans to split itself in two as part of a NOK6.2bn (£450m) deal. Schibsted has struck a non-binding agreement to sell its traditional news operations to its biggest shareholder, Tinius Trust, while the remaining business - a specialist in online market - will stay listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Tinius owns 26% of Schibsted through its investment vehicle Blommenholm Industrier. It is expected to retain its stake in the listed Nordic Marketplaces business once the deal completes.

It has also agreed to remove Schibsted's dual-class share structure, ensuring equal voting rights for all shareholders.

As at 1400 GMT, shares in Schibsted were up 16%.

Tinius will pay NOK6.2bn in total, including NOK5.4bn for the news business and NOK0.8bn for Schibsted's stake in Norwegian newspaper publisher Polaris.

Chief executive Kristin Skogen Lund said: "For the last two decades, Schibsted has pioneered the digitalisation in the news media and online classified industries.

"Today marks another historic moment for Schibsted as we announce a major strategic shit, to allow our current two core business - News Media and Nordic Marketplaces - to better realise their full potential as separate companies.

"We are convinced that this move will benefit our stakeholders."

Rune Bjerke, deputy chair, said: "After an extensive financial and strategic analysis of the value creation potential of Schibsted's current core businesses, we have concluded that both have a potential as stand-alone companies up and beyond what they can achieve in the current company structure."

Should shareholders back the plan, the deal is set to complete in the first half of 2024.