MTG Ups MCN Investment

STOCKHOLM: MTG has increased its stake in the European multichannel network Splay from 49 percent to 81 percent.

MTG acquired additional shares from the company's founders and made a direct investment in the venture, which is the leading MCN in Scandinavia and is present in Germany. Splay has 430 YouTube channels generating more than 120 million monthly views with short-form comedy, music, sports, fashion, beauty, gaming and vlog entertainment. According to MTG, the MCN's revenues, from advertising and influencer marketing campaigns for global brands, are on track to double this year.

Founder and CEO Vigor Sörman and members of the Splay team own the remaining stake and continue to run the company.

“Splay’s hypergrowth reflects the mass appeal of its content and huge potential of this proven business model," said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG's president and CEO. "Splay is a fantastic youth entertainment brand, and this investment reflects the success of our partnership to date and high ambition for the future. It is in line with our digital strategy to invest in relevant, complementary and scalable digital content and communities. We are only just beginning to realize Splay’s potential, and look forward to working with this talented and passionate team to grow further and explore new opportunities together. Splay’s gaming channels will add further to our esports leadership and expansion potential with ESL and Viagame. At the same time, the combination with our own Play TV services will enable each business to grow more quickly, and offer unique cross-platform reach and promotion opportunities.”

Sörman added, "Thanks to our cooperation with MTG, we have gone from a basement company to the market leader in our home markets. MTG’s continued investment in Splay makes it possible for us to continue building our brand, develop our talents, and accelerate our international expansion. We look forward to continuing to work with MTG to build the digital media house for the next generation of content creators.”