Fri, Feb 10 2012

Time Warner closes acquisition of 31% in CME

Tue, May 19 2009 13:40 CET

byNick Iliev

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Time Warner closes acquisition of 31% in CME

Photo: Wikipedia

American media giant Time Warner has said that it closed the acquisition of 31 per cent in Central European Media Enterprise Group (CME) for $241.5 million.

Time Warner thus establishes a foothold on the Bulgarian market, where CME owns channels TV2 and Ring TV. CME owns stations in six other Eastern European countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

CME stepped in Bulgaria in August 2008, when it bought the two stations in a $172 million deal. Its revenue in Bulgaria in 2008 was $600 000, Bulgarian daily Dnevnik reported.

Time Warner bought 19 million shares, including 14.5 million shares at $12 a share and 4.5 million shares at $15 a share. Additionally, Time Warner has agreed to allow CME founder Ronald Lauder to vote for Time Warner’s shares of CME for a period spanning at least four years, subject to certain conditions. Lauder has pledged to support Time Warner’s appointment of two of its designees to CME’s board of directors.

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