Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. announced today that, following the procedure to inform and negotiate with the French trade unions as set out by law, it has signed an agreement on the sale of its subsidiary Mondadori France S.A.S. to Reworld Media S.A..

The agreement is in line with the Mondadori Group’s strategy to continue along its strategic repositioning path, placing increasing focus on the more profitable core businesses.

The scope subject to sale includes the 100% interest in the share capital held by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. in Mondadori France S.A.S. and its subsidiaries and/or investees.

The consideration for the transaction amounts to € 70 million (cash free/debt free), plus an earn-out of € 5 million to be paid according to the terms disclosed to the market on 18 February 2019.

As a result of the deal, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. will hold from an 8% to 10% interest in the share capital of Reworld Media S.A..

If the transaction is completed, the estimated improvement in the Mondadori Group’s net financial position at closing date would be approximately € 59 million.

As already disclosed to the market, completion of the transaction is subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions precedent:

• authorization by the Autorité de la Concurrence;
• approval of the reserved capital increase by the shareholders of Reworld Media;
• provision of a bank loan, already authorized, to Reworld Media.

Following the exclusive negotiation agreement, that was announced on 25 June, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. has today formalised the sale to Sofimav of two specialised titles published by Mondadori France.

The operation is part of ongoing activities aimed at focusing the company’s portfolio of titles in France in the up-scale and mass market segments.

The magazines involved in this transaction, for which a price of €1.3 million has been agreed, are La Pêche et les Poissons and Pêche Mouche.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. has defined an agreement for exclusive negotiations, with the French publisher Sofimav, for the sale of the specialist titles La Pêche et les Poissons and Pêche Mouche (2007 revenues: circa €2 million). In France and in Spain Sofimav is the publisher of magazine titles in the leisure sector (Plongée Magazine, Apnéa, Balades, la pêche de la truite, la pêche des carnassiers, Sanglier Passion, Bécasse Passion, Buceadores).

This is a continuation of the widely announced rationalisation of the Mondadori France portfolio which will increasingly focus on upscale and mass market titles.

Implementation of the negotiation agreement is subject to the completion of the consultation procedure with the works council foreseen by French legislation.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. today announced that an agreement has been reached for exclusive negotiations with Motor Presse France for the sale of a package of six specialised titles currently published by the Mondadori France group: Le Cycle; l’Officiel du Cycle de la Moto et du Quad; Bateaux; Golf Européen, Golf Magazine and Guide Bel-air.

The magazines involved in the negotiation, specialised in the sport sector, in 2007 recorded overall revenues of around €11 million.

The operation is part of the widely publicised strategy of rationalising the portfolio of Mondadori France through focalisation and development, also through the sale of niche titles, of upscale and mass-market segments with higher potential, also in terms of advertising.

Motor Presse France publishes around fifteen specialised magazines in France, dedicated to the worlds of cars, motorcycles, tourism, sport and leisure, as well as a series of travel guides. The company is part of the Motor Presse group, which is owned by Gruner+Jahr (Bertelsmann Group) and operates in fifteen countries and publishes more than 200 magazines.

The activation of the negotiation agreement is subject to the consultation procedures with trades union organizations foreseen by French legislation.