MTG Buys into Zoomin.TV MCN

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) has purchased a 51 percent stake in the multichannel network Zoomin.TV, following on its recent investments in eSports company ESL and Scandinavian MCN Splay.

Zoomin is the fifth largest MCN in the world and largest in Europe, attracting more than 2 billion monthly video views and 100 million subscribers worldwide on YouTube. In addition to being a video entertainment network, Zoomin is a content-production and advertising-sales house. MTG is acquiring the shares based on an enterprise value of 88 million euros ($95.5 million).

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG's president and CEO, said: “This combination of global web talent and content, massive reach amongst Millennials, and proven monetization capabilities confirms our position as a leading player in the global online video entertainment space. It is now clear that we are creating an online video ecosystem that is fully prepared to capitalize on the next steps in the evolution of social video. It will enable both Zoomin and our other market-leading digital brands to expand even faster by leveraging our combined consumer insight, reach and cross-promotional potential. We will now operate right across the digital video entertainment spectrum, just as we have done so successfully with our TV content production studios, channel brands and distribution platforms. So…welcome to the Zoomin team, and we look forward to realizing some big ambitions together.”

Jan Riemens and Bram Bloemberg, Zoomin.TV's founders, added: “We are extremely happy to have found the right strategic partner in MTG. We wanted to team up with a company that knows the content arena inside out and that will elevate Zoomin to become an even bigger global player in the online video space. MTG’s near 900,000 hours of acquired and annually broadcast content, together with its leading in-house production studios, demonstrate this knowledge and platform. We have a proven business model for creating and monetizing online video reach. Now we will accelerate our growth further by working with MTG to position ourselves as the ideal partner for video publishers looking to succeed internationally. On behalf of all our talents, partners and employees, we look forward to working with MTG.”