Amedia

Amedia AS
Company type	Private
Industry	Media
Founded	1948
Headquarters	Oslo, Norway
Area served	Norway and formerly also Russia
Key people	Anders Opdahl (CEO)
Revenue	3,570,000,000 Norwegian krone (2018)
Number of employees	2,635 (2007)
Parent	Amediastiftelsen
Website	www.amedia.no

Amedia AS is the second largest media company in Norway (the largest is Schibsted and the third largest is Polaris Media). The company is whole or partial owner of 50 local and regional newspaper with online newspapers and printing presses, and its own news agency, Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå.

Until 2022 the corporation owned and operated a group of printing plants under the brand name Prime Print in Russia.

History

Amedia AS was established on 27 May 1948 as Norsk Arbeiderpresse (lit: Norwegian Labour Press). It was an association of social democratic newspapers.^[1] It was renamed A-pressen in 1994, a name which it retained until 2012.

The company was originally created to finance Norwegian labour newspapers owned by the labour unions and Labour Party. In 1990 the company was refinanced and transferred to a corporation, with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and the Labour Party as the largest owners. When A-pressen bought part of TV2, the Labour Party chose to sell their stake in the company, and instead the MøllerGruppen, the Finnish company Sanoma and Telenor bought part of the company and it was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In the end Sanoma sold their stake, the company was delisted and was then owned by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (45,2%), Telenor (44,8%) and the Fritt Ord Foundation (10,1%).^[2]

The company sold its 50% stake in TV2 in January 2012.

Amedia bought competitor Edda Media from Mecom Group in 2012.

Amedia was bought by Sparebankstiftelsen DnB in 2016 and the company is now owned by Amediastiftelsen (The Amedia Foundation).

In April 2022, Amedia announced it was handing over its four printing houses in Russia worth some 4 million Euro to the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, as it was ceasing its business activities in Russia.^[3] However, in the fall of 2023, five Prime Print printing houses, by decree of Vladimir Putin, were transferred first to the temporary management of the Federal Property Management Agency, and then to the Moscow authorities.^[4]

CEOs

Johan Ona (1948–1974)
Einar Olsen (1974–1987)
Alf Hildrum (1987–2007)
Even Nordstrøm (2007–2010)
Thor Gjermund Eriksen (2010–2013)
Are Stokstad (2013–2020)
Anders Møller Opdahl (2020–present)

Chairmen of the board

Konrad Nordahl (1948–1965)^[5]
Tor Aspengren (1965–1981)^[6]
Tor Halvorsen (1981?–1987)
Leif Haraldseth (1987–1990, acting from 1987 to 1988)
Svein-Erik Oxholm (1990–1997)
Jan Balstad (1997–2002)
Roar Flåthen (2002–2005)
Gerd-Liv Valla (2005–2007)
Erik Nord (2007–2010)
Jon Hippe (2010-2011)
Roar Flåthen (2011–present)

Newspapers

References

^ Sigurd Allern (2007). "From Party Press to Independent Observers?". Nordicom Review (Jubilee Issue): 63–79. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
^ "A-pressen AS". Medietilsynet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 12 December 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
^ "Norwegian media group Amedia leaves Russia, hands over presses to Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief". interfax.com.
^ "Путин передал властям Москвы пять типографий норвежского холдинга Amedia". forbes.ru (in Russian). 2023-11-22.
^ "Konrad Nordahl" (in Norwegian). Storting.
^ Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Tor Aspengren". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 27 May 2010.

[1] Sigurd Allern (2007). "From Party Press to Independent Observers?". Nordicom Review (Jubilee Issue): 63–79. Retrieved 12 December 2014.

[2] "A-pressen AS". Medietilsynet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 12 December 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2007.

[3] "Norwegian media group Amedia leaves Russia, hands over presses to Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief". interfax.com.

[4] "Путин передал властям Москвы пять типографий норвежского холдинга Amedia". forbes.ru (in Russian). 2023-11-22.

[5] "Konrad Nordahl" (in Norwegian). Storting.

[6] Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Tor Aspengren". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 27 May 2010.

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