Sanoma WSOY Group

Overview

Helsinki-based Sanoma WSOY gained international attention in the second half of 2001 by buying the Consumer Information Group (CIG) - over 200 consumer magazine titles and other interests - of VNU.

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Prior to that time it had largely been known as an oddity - a Nordic conglomerate that embraced television, cinemas, news services, book and magazine publishing, multimedia, newspapers, betting shops, restaurants and other activities.

In 2000 the group's net sales totalled €1.4 billion, with an operating profit of €85 million and some 13,300 employees. Medialinnakkeet suggests that in 2001 SanomaWSOY accounted for around 36% of the turnover of 100 largest media enterprises in Finland (some €4.8 billion), with the next five (inc Alma Media, in which Bonnier has a substantial stake) accounting for a further 41%. Sanoma's expansion outside Finland and the Nordic region into Western and Eastern Europe is thus unsurprising.

The group

The group was formed in 1999 through the merger of diversified publishers Sanoma and WSOY with Helsinki Media, a print and broadcast group. Sanoma WSOY is controlled by the Erkko family (around 24% of equity) and is the second largest Nordic media group in the region behind the Bonnier group. Until 2001 it had few assets outside the region (eg minor multimedia interests in Poland and a 29% stake in Norway's A-pressen) and 92% of sales were within Finland.

It can trace its history back to the 1860s, when the Erkko and Soderstrom families established book and newspaper publishing operations in then Russian-occupied Finland. Both were influential in the Finnish independence movement.

The companies expanded into wholesale and retail distribution, notably through the Rautakirja company - which ultimately embraced gift shops, betting shops, film/video imports, the Pizza Hut franchise, highway cafes and Finland's largest cinema chain. A chronology of the group is here.

Prior to the 1999 merger the member companies expanded into Sweden, Norway, Poland and Estonia - mainly through joint ventures and purchase of publishers and multimedia developers - in competition with Schibsted, Bonnier, Orkla and other local groups. They've traditionally been protected through tight government media ownership restrictions and the perceived difficulty of establishing competing operations.

Acquisition of VNU's consumer magazines arm provides a very substantial presence in Western, Central and Eastern Europe - sales outside Finland will rise to 41%. It will have a 50% share of the Dutch magazine market and 39% of the Belgian market. Magazine interests in Romania are in partnership with Hearst. CIG sales in 2000 were around €816 million, with 3,500 employees

Studies

There are no major English-language studies of the group.