CME in Romanian Radio Deal

HAMILTON, April 17: Central
European Media Enterprises (CME) has acquired the assets of Compania de Radio
Pro s.r.l. (Radio Pro), which owns two radio stations in Romania, Pro FM and
Info Pro, for $20.6 million.

The pop music station Pro
FM reaches an average all-day audience share of about 7 percent in the 15-to-35
demographic. Info Pro is a national infotainment channel that was launched in
2004.

Radio Pro is a member of
the Media Pro group of companies, which is owned by CME’s COO, Adrian Sarbu,
with CME holding a minority 8.7-percent economic interest. CME said in
announcing the deal that the close collaboration between the Radio Pro channels
and MTV Romania creates an opportunity for it to strengthen its reach within
the youth demographic. In December 2007, the CME subsidiary PRO TV reached a
deal with MTV Networks International to operate the localized MTV channel in
Romania.

Michael Garin, the CEO of
CME, said: "We are thrilled to be able to acquire the profitable Radio Pro
channels to further develop our expansion into the youth market in Romania. The
combination of MTV Romania, our leading websites and the Radio Pro channels
will further enhance our multichannel strategy and allow us to offer a broader
range of audience to our advertisers."

Sarbu added: "Media
Pro has been building the Radio Pro business since 1993 and established radio
brands that can now successfully support the growth of CME's new channel, MTV
Romania. We also look to expand our multichannel strategy through radio into
other CME territories in the future. With an established channel like Pro FM
operating at a similar EBITDA margin to CME's most successful TV channels, we
view this form of media as a strong addition to our current business
model."

—By Mansha Daswani