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Weekly Lists
July 27, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
bne:TMT
Mafra reportedly to buy Czech lifestyle magazines from Baumer Media for CZK1bn
United Group announces €100mn investment in local content in SEE
German Bauer Media has reportedly agreed to sell its Czech magazines to Mafra publishing house, part of Czech conglomerate Agrofert, for an estimated CZK1bn (€39mn), Czech business daily Hospodarske noviny said on July 24.
Baumer Media owns more than 30 lifestyle and television maga- zines in Czechia, including Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar.
“Agrofert has no lifestyle publications and that these magazines are best able to withstand the pressure to go digital,” Masaryk Univer- sity media expert Jaromir Volek said, according to the daily.
Mafra is part of the agricultural empire Agrofert that used to belong to the populist Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis until February 2017. It already owns popular newspaper titles including Lidove Noviny and MF Dnes, which is also part of the empire.
Telecoms and media provider United Group, owned by US investment firm KKR and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), announced on July 21 it plans to invest €100mn in local con- tent production in Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.
The company has increased the percentage of owned content on its channels from 5% to 30% in five years.
“In the era of global media players such as Netflix, local audiences still value shows and movies that reflect their lives and experienc- es. United Group’s plan to invest €100m in local content is a show of faith in the network of local talent including producers, actors and musicians. I am excited to see what more the region has to offer,” chairman of the advisory board, Dragan Solak, said.
Russian mobile MegaFon has launched a personalised big data anal- ysis based bonus and discount application, which proposes better tariff plans, third-party services and coupons, bonuses, cashbacks, and other perks to its subscribers, Vedomosti daily said on July 24.
This is in line with the general trend of a saturating market with low inflows of new subscribers. Previously another operator Vimpelcom (VEON) provided similar services.
Subscribers of T2 RTK Holding (joint venture of Tele2 and Rostele- com) also benefit from personalised offers, while mobile operator MTS employs big data analysis for both tariff mix and smartphone purchase proposals for its clients.
Russian mobile majors seek client loyalty on tight market