Alma Media acquires Mascus marketplace

Press release
November 13, 2003

Alma Media Corporation is to acquire Mascus, the Internet-based marketplace for used equipment. The transaction will strengthen the market position of both parties and create new growth potential. Customers will benefit from the option to market their equipment efficiently through multiple media channels.

Alma Media Interactive Ltd, a subsidiary of Alma Media, will acquire the entire share capital of Mascus Ltd. The sellers are KONE Corporation and the management of Mascus. Both the services and customer groups of Alma Media Interactive and Mascus complement each other.

Mascus is the leading marketplace for used equipment in Northern Europe. The company develops and produces Internet-based services and tools to make of used equipment market more efficient. Mascus has some 350 equipment manufacturers and dealers as customers. The marketplace has 10 000 used machines worth approximately EUR 250 million for sale. The large product selection has been visited by up to 180 000 visitors per month. Mascus' main markets are the UK, Sweden and Finland. In addition, the company has customers elsewhere in Scandinavia, Germany, Ireland, the Baltic States, Russia and Poland. The Mascus marketplace operates in six languages, other services are available in 12 languages.

Alma Media Interactive has developed multimedia services for classified advertising since 1996. Its Asuntopörssi newspaper (housing marketplace) is distributed to over one million households in Finland. Its Internet-based marketplaces Etuovi.com (real estate), Dime.com (office space), Autotalli.com (used cars) and Jobline.fi (jobs) are all market leaders in their fields. The services are visited by 400 000 users each month. The anticipated net sales of classified ads for this year is eight million euros and the company employs 40 people.

“This deal supplies Mascus with the know-how and resources of a big media house. Together we can develop and offer our clients comprehensive media solutions, enabling the ad to appear in multiple channels with just a single data input. Dealers and manufacturers are interested in combining print media and Internet marketing. In the future, digital TV can be added to the package as well,” says Kaisa Vikkula , the Managing Director of Mascus, describing the benefits of the deal. "Cost savings can also be realised in product development and IT services. For example, Mascus can take advantage of the transaction based pricing models developed by Interactive."

“Alma Media's target is to be the leading media house in classified advertising on the Internet. Mascus is the leading marketplace in its own field,” remarks Raimo Mäkilä , the Director for Media Services at Alma Media, on the basis for the Mascus acquisition. Concurrently, we seek growth and internationalisation. With Mascus' help we can quickly expand into a new sector and international markets. Over 70 percent of Mascus sales come from abroad and we believe the business will continue to grow strongly. The Baltic Sea area in particular seems to provide interesting opportunities.

Mascus net sales for 2003 is estimated to be EUR 1.1 million. The company employs 12 people. Partek Corporation established Mascus three years ago to improve used equipment sales and free capital tied-up in stock.

Alma Media is a media company listed on the Helsinki Exchanges. The Group's main businesses are newspaper publishing, production and distribution of business information, television and radio broadcasting, and media services.

The Group's top brands are Finland's most popular TV channel MTV3, and Finland's most popular commercial radio station Radio Nova, the leading business medium Kauppalehti, the leading newspaper in the Tampere region Aamulehti and the growing afternoon paper Iltalehti. Net sales were 486 million euros in 2002 and the Group has 4,000 employees including 1,500 part-time delivery staff.

Mascus Ltd.

For more information contact:
Raimo Mäkilä, Alma Media Ltd, Media Services, tel. +358-(0)9-507 8512, Kaisa Vikkula, Mascus Ltd, Managing Director, tel. +358-(0)40-548 3554, John O'Leary, Mascus Ltd, Country Manager in the UK, tel. 07970-230055,

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Mascus (www.mascus.com) is an electronic marketplace for used equipment. Mascus makes trading in used machines and trucks quicker and more efficient by collecting in one place information about the supply. All dealers and producers are welcome to place their used machines and trucks for sale at the marketplace. The service was opened on the Internet at the end of January 2001. The services are available in English, German, French, Russian, Swedish and Finnish.
Mascus presents all leading brands in agriculture and forest machines, transportation, groundscare, construction and material handling equipment, e.g. Case, John Deere, Massey Ferguson, New Holland, Valtra, Claas, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Take Job, Liebherr, Volvo, Kobelco, Manitou, Ahlmann, Kalmar, Linde, Rocla, Renault, MAN, Mercedes Benz, Scania, Hiab, Loglift, Jonsered, Ponsse, Rottne, Logset and Valmet.
Mascus has offices in the UK, Sweden and Finland.