Modern Times Group "completed the sale of its Russian and international pay TV channel businesses" for a total of $45.5M, according to DIGITAL TV EUROPE. Russian company LLC Sinerdzhi "acquired the Russian channels business" while Sabiero Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of private equity firm Baring Vostok, has acquired MTG’s int'l channels business. The deal, "which is a response to imminent changes to Russian media law, sees MTG offload its Russian assets -- which include factual, movie and sports channels." Commenting on the deal, MTG President & CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann said that the sale "has been made necessary" by the new Russian legislation on foreign ownership of media firms. In September, Russia’s CTC Media "entered a definitive agreement to sell a 75% stake in its operating businesses to UTH Russia-affiliated UTV Management" for $200M in cash. MTG, which holds a 38% stake in CTC, "indicated its support for the deal, which was again motivated by foreign ownership restrictions imposed by the Russian government" (DIGITAL TV EUROPE, 10/26).
