Bonnier Buys Out Telenor in C More

STOCKHOLM: Bonnier has bought out Telenor's 35-percent interest in C More, taking full control of the Nordic premium pay-TV channel operator.

“By taking over as sole owner, we are now creating full freedom of action for our work of identifying the best possible structure and direction for C More going forward, and for coming up with an optimal way of exploiting and developing C More’s very strong rights portfolio to best effect," said Casten Almqvist, the chairman of C More and head of the broadcasting business area at Bonnier.

Manfred Aronsson, previously the CEO of MTG Sweden and Kanal 5, takes over as CEO of C More on August 18, succeeding Johan Kleberg. The company was launched in 1997 by France's CANAL+. In 2003 it was bought by private-equity firms Baker Capital and Nordic Capital. In 2005 ownership changed hands again, when it was acquired by SBS Broadcasting Group, which was later acquired by ProSiebenSat.1. In 2008, TV4, owned by Bonnier, acquired 65 percent of the C More Group.