Storytel is acquiring the digital subscription service Ztorylabs AB
(“Ztory”)
and its extensive all-you-can-read offering of magazines and
newspapers. The
deal will broaden Storytel’s product line and amplify the
company’s position as
the leading provider of digital-book experiences. Through
its operational and
wholly owned subsidiary Storytel Sweden AB, Storytel AB
(publ) (“Storytel”) has
now purchased and acquired 100% of Ztory’s shares as of
January 31st, 2019.
Founded in 2013 by Nima Samimi, Staffan Svantesson, Daniel
Malmqvist, and Martin
Samami, Ztory is a digital all-you-can-read subscription
service which primarily
offers newspapers and magazines, as well as children’s
books in a user-friendly
format. Its monthly 99 SEK subscription fee gives
customers unlimited access to
Ztory’s content.
“I’ve met with Nima and the
team at Ztory on and off during the past few years,
and have been profoundly
impressed by their impressive knowledge and passionate
commitment to develop
the user experience. It feels completely logical and
natural to broaden
Storytel’s market-leading service and extensive content
offering with Ztory’s
strong line-up with exciting and loved magazine brands and
alert newspapers ––
it’s an obvious way to complement our strong footprint in
audio books
listening,” says Storytel’s CEO Jonas Tellander.
Ztory’s current CEO Daniel
Malmqvist, will continue to be employed by the
Storytel Group and lead the
development of Ztory after the acquisition. In order
to ensure a smooth
transition and integration with Storytel, founder Nima Samimi
and former CTO
Martin Samimi will assume positions as contracted consultants.
“Ever since
Storytel’s foundation, we’ve been emtremely spurred and inspired by
the
impressive and innovative journey Jonas and Storytel have made. That adds
an
extra dimension to my excitement about this deal where Ztory will contribute
to
further strengthen Storytel’s position as the leading digital service
for
reading-and-listening experiences on the market. It also feels important to
give
quality journalism a new strong platform by making Ztory’s rich offering
of
popular dailies and magazines digitally available to Storytel’s hundreds
of
thousands of paying subscribers,” says Ztory founder Nima Samimi.
During
the latest audited business year, Ztory had a turnover of 5.4 MSEK, with
a net
loss after financial items of approximately 3 MSEK. Its primary owners
have
been founder Nima Samimi,
Daniel Malmqvist, Wingefors Venture AB, and Almi
Invest Norra Mellansverige AB;
a total of thirteen owners have sold their
holdings. The parties involved have
agreed not to disclose the purchasing price
–– which will not have a substantial
impact on the Storytel Group’s finances,
and which has been transacted in the
form of a cash payment for shares
purchased.
For more information, please contact:
Jonas Tellander (+46 70 261
6136)
Nima Samimi (+46 73 506 5629)
FNCA Sweden AB is Storytel’s certified
advisor. FNCA can be reached at
info@fnca.se or +46 8 528 00 399
About
Storytel
The Storytel group consists of two divisions, Streaming and
Publishing. The
Streaming division currently offers a subscription service for
audio books and e
-books under the brand names Storytel and Mofibo in Sweden,
Norway, Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain,
India, the United Arab
Emirates, Turkey, Italy, Mexico and Bulgaria. The
Streaming division also
publishes audio books and Storytel Originals, mainly
through the audio-book
publisher Storyside. The Publishing division consists of
the publishers
Norstedts, Massolit, Printz Publishing, the Danish People’s
Press, Storytel
Publishing, Rabén & Sjögren and B. Wahlströms, as well as
Norstedts Kartor