HELSINKI: Alma Media has signed an agreement to acquire Nettix Oy’s entire share capital from Otava Group for EUR 170 million, strengthening its position in the marketplaces business in Finland.

The acquisition strengthens Alma Media’s position in the marketplaces business in Finland, especially in automotive and mobility services. In addition, the acquisition of Nettix Oy opens new business opportunities, for example in renting and leasing operations.

In 2020, the acquired business had revenue of EUR 22.5 million, EBITDA of EUR 11.2 million and operating profit of EUR 10.0 million. The enterprise value of the acquired business is EUR 170 million.

Nettix Oy’s business consists of Finland’s leading motor vehicle marketplaces, such as Nettiauto, Nettikone and Nettimoto, reaching an audience of 2.5 million Finns every week.

In 2020, the Nettix marketplaces generated approximately 81% of Nettix Oy’s revenue. The marketplace business had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of revenue of approximately 7% in 2016–2020. In addition, Nettix Oy consists of Konepörssi, the leading professional media for machine and transport business, and the news service Ampparit.

The acquisition of Nettix Oy is a continuation of Alma Media’s strategy to focus on digital media and services. Nettix will complement Alma Media’s marketplaces business, offering opportunities for cross-selling and upselling and for sharing of best practices between the services.

Through this acquisition, Alma Media continues its strategic expansion into new digital products and services that address customer needs and cover the entire value chain, ranging from sales systems to transactions.

Digitalisation of mobility services and the automotive ecosystem is expected to accelerate further in coming years, and trading is expected to continue its shift to digital marketplaces and platforms.

After the acquisition, the revenue of Alma Media’s marketplaces business in Finland will be approximately EUR 46 million.

In total, including Alma Media’s international operations, the marketplaces business account for approximately 41% of the Group’s revenue.

The acquisition is expected to take place in the turn of March and April 2021.

“The Nettix acquisition represents an important step in our strategy that focuses on digital media and services. It strengthens our position in the automotive and mobility sector, being strategically important for us in Finland,” says Kai Telanne, Alma Media’s President and CEO.

“Nettix’s digital and highly scalable business model enables profitable growth and expansion to new business areas. In the future, we will combine journalistic content, marketplaces and digital services with the latest technology, while staying attentive to consumers’ needs at all times.

This will be achieved by leveraging the data accumulating from the consumption of content and services, which in turn enables us to develop products efficiently and create marketing solutions with maximum impact”.

Nettix will be reported as part of the Alma Consumer business segment, starting from Q2 2021. Alma Consumer’s competitiveness is based on the superior reach of media and services as a digital network, the unique user data pool and the developing industry verticals in the areas of media, housing, cars and comparison services.

Alma Media estimates that the acquisition will create annual synergies of EUR 1.5 million by 2022, mainly related to advertising sales, support functions, premises, IT systems and IT development.

As a result of the acquisition, a total of 39 Nettix Oy’s employees (converted to full-time employees) will transfer to Alma Media. The estimated transaction-related costs are EUR 1.5 million, of which Alma Media has booked EUR 0.5 million as costs in 2020.

Alma Media is a dynamic digital service business and media company with a strong capacity for renewal. www.almamedia.com