United Media Holding

Assets

For February, 2014 the Ukrainsky Media Holding group and Popular Press publishing house managing business in Russia and Kazakhstan is a part of United Media Holding.

UMH manages a portfolio from more than 50 brands. The company takes the leading positions in Ukraine in the markets of the Internet, radio and press. According to "RBC. Ratings" enters in top-15 the largest media companies in the territory of the former Soviet Union.

At 43 offices of the company in Russia and Ukraine more than 4400 employees work.

Basic business of the company — content production for all types of media. Four strategic business units of the company:

• UMH Online,
• UMH Radio & TV,
• UMH Publishing и
• UMH Russia.

Brands (February, 2014) enter a portfolio of the company:

• Vogue,
• Correspondent,
• Teleweek,
• i.ua,
• bigmir.net,
• football.ua,
• Retro FM,
• Our radio,
• Europa Plus,
• Autoradio,
• Arguments and Facts,
• Komsomolskaya Pravda and others.

In total the group includes 8 radio stations and the leading niche TV channel "Menyu-TV" purchased in 2008.

Performance Indicators

Target markets of the company — the adult Russian-speaking population of the former Soviet Union making about 155 million people where for the beginning of 2014 the company covers about 12% of audience or 18.6 million.

History

1994: Start of Teleweek

The history UMH began in 1994 with a project startup Teleweek — the Ukraine's first edition in a celebrity & TV guide segment. For short term Teleweek became the most popular national magazine. The project became the locomotive which caused development of all portfolio of own and license UMH brands.

From 1995 to 1998 the company actively developed in a segment of tabloids and sports editions. Licenses for the known Russian newspaper brands Argumenty I Fakty and Komsomolskaya Pravda were purchased, the Futbol magazine is started. In structure of UMH there were more than ten successful media projects, and dynamics of development allowed group to become the leading player in the market of the press.

2000: The first radio station

In 2000 the UMH group became multimedia. The project portfolio included the first radio station. Two years later — one more, and in 2004 the UMH radio group contained already 4 network stations.

With active development of digital technologies, the Internet became an important priority in business development of the UMH group. By acquisitions and development of own projects, the company built a portfolio from more than 15 projects with a covering of the Ukrainian audience in 47%.

2003: Entry in Russia

2003 became sign for the history of development of UMH. The group entered the strategic market — to Russia, having founded Popular Press publishing house. A year later in the new territory dynamic brand development Teleweek which managed to enter for small term in top-10 printing editions of Russia began.

2006: Start of retail network

In 2006 as a part of UMH own retail network in the convenience store format where along with the press convenience goods are on sale began to develop. In five years the network achieved leadership in scale — the quantity of points of network exceeds 850, and the number of the clients serviced in 2010 exceeded 27 million.

2008: Placement of the GDR on the Frankfurt stock exchange

In May, 2008 UMH became the first media company from Ukraine which carried out the securities placement on the international platform — entered exchange listing of the Frankfurt stock exchange.

2010: License for the Forbes edition

Signing of the license agreement on the edition of the Forbes magazine in Ukraine became an important event of 2010 for the company. The project started very successfully, and significantly influenced alignment of forces in the market of business media, having strengthened a leading position of UMH. By 2011 in structure of the company it is already more than 25 printing editions in segments: news, business, celebrities, sport.

2011

At the beginning of 2011 UMH completed two large deals on acquisition of radio stations and online projects, having become the absolute leader in the markets of the press, radio and Internet of Ukraine.

In 2011 total sales of holding were $138 million.^[1]

2013

Kurchenko buys UMH

The first data that the holding can be sold appeared in April, 2013. Then among buyers called also Sergey Kurchenko.

In June, 2013 the owner of VETEC group Sergey Kurchenko became the new owner of the Ukrainian media holding UMH group. VETEK received 98% of stocks of holding which are transferred on storage to the eskrou-agent (one of authoritative law companies of Great Britain). Transaction amount is not called, but about 50% are paid for today. According to Forbes, it can approach $450-500 million. Under the terms of the transaction the ex-owner of the company Boris Lozhkin any time will not be able to be engaged in business creation - the direct competitor to projects in UMH^[1].

The new owner will also take shares of most of minority shareholders in separate projects, including — at the structures related to Gennady Bogolyubov. For the present Rinat Akhmetov's Criminal Police Service did not sell the share in United Online Ventures (one of shareholders of the company is UMH).

The new owner within the next three years is going to reinvest the profit of UMH in development of group and also in addition to enclose up to $100 million VETEK in projects of group also declares determination to develop the accompanying projects: different conferences, tenders of the ideas. Are going to begin with the tender "young startup". The company reports that "the young millionaire Kurchenko will select a startup from the beginning businessman and will help to implement it".

The media holding considered several offers before stopping on it. According to Grigory Shverk, the senior vice president of UMH group, the management of holding "received firm assurance of the relation of preserving of independence of editions and non-interference to the editorial policy of media from VETEK" that became decisive when choosing.

"We look for profitable and perspective Ukrainian media objects. Are ready and to invest in development of effective Ukrainian media further. UMH – one of them" — the new owner of holding said.

In 2013 UMH sold the Fokus magazine to the Ukrainian Vertex United group.

Mikhail Kotov is an editor-in-chief of Forbes Ukraine

Mikhail Kotov became the Chief Editor of the Ukrainian Forbes in July, 2013 in a month after transition of the edition under control of structures of Sergey Kurchenko. The previous Chief Editor of the edition Vladimir Fedorin claimed that Kurchenko purchased the magazine in political goals.

In November, 2013 13 journalists in protest at change of editorial policy of the edition left the Ukrainian Forbes. The Chief Editor of the Forbes — Ukraine project Mikhail Kotov then said that dismissal of journalists is connected with consolidation of editorial offices of the magazine and the website Forbes, and the editorial policy remained invariable.

The same year holding the Chief Editor of the Korrespondent magazine Vitaly Sych and the Chief Editor of the website "Корреспондент.net" — Yulia left IAC-Gaffi.

2014: Loss of the license Forbes

In March, 2014 after the revolution in Kiev, the American company Forbes, Inc. began process of revocation of license on the edition of the Ukrainian version of the Forbes magazine of the UMH company belonging to the entrepreneur Sergey Kurchenko.

Also in Forbes announced dismissal from the company of the vice president Miguel Forbes who approved transition of the license for the edition of the magazine to Kurchenko in June, 2013. According to the representative of Forbes Mia Karbonell (Mia Carbonell), dismissal of Miguel Forbes which earlier in media it was not announced happened at the end of 2013 and is not connected with scandal over the Ukrainian version of the magazine. The reasons for which it was decided to revoke at the UMH license for issue of Forbes in Ukraine are not called.

On March 6, 2014 it became known that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine opened 11 criminal cases in connection with activity of the firms under control of Sergey Kurchenko. According to the acting as the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, from 2012 to 2013 Kurchenko's companies imported on the territory of Ukraine oil products for the purpose of resale abroad, however finally products were sold in the territory of the country without payment of taxes and fees. The amount of damage to the budget from these frauds is estimated at 7 billion hryvnias (about 28 billion rubles).

In the Ukrainian media it was repeatedly said that Kurchenko is a close associate of the president of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych and enters his environment. After discharge by the Verkhovna Rada of Yanukovych from Kurchenko's power left Ukraine and, according to some information, can be in Russia.

Notes