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According to the agreement signed on Tuesday, Ekspress Meedia, subsidiary of Ekspress Grupp, will take over the publishing of the monthly magazines Eesti Naine, Anne ja Stiil, Pere ja Kodu, Oma Maitse, Tervis Pluss and Jana, as well as the weekly magazine Kroonika belonging to Ajakirjade Kirjastus, Ekspress Grupp told the stock exchange.

Ajakirjade Kirjastus together with the rest of publications will be merged with AS SL Ohtuleht. After the merger, the name of the new legal entity will be AS Ohtuleht Kirjastus. The merger will be completed in 2018.

The transaction had to be approved by the Competition Authority. Until then, Ajakirjade Kirjastus will continue its business as a separate company. The ownership structure of the newly merged firm Ohtuleht Kirjastus will not change. As before, the Ekspress Grupp will own 50% and Suits Meedia 50% of the company.

"The reorganization will be carried out to enhance future perspectives of the magazines. The main goal of the reorganization is to create a better online output for the content of printed magazines of Ajakirjade Kirjastus, integrating them more tightly with the strong digital publishing platforms of their owners Eesti Ekspress and Suits Meedia," Mari-Liis Ruutsalu, CEO of Ekspress Grupp, said.

She said that it makes no sense in 2018 to start investing money in the establishment of a new major online center and rather it would be reasonable to find synergy with the existing platforms, such as Delfi and Ohtuleht.

"There is no intention to close any of the currently published magazines. For subscribers of magazines all subscriptions will remain as they are at the current moment," Ruutsalu said.

Established in 2000, Ajakirjade Kirjastus is the publisher of 36 publications having altogether over 600,000 readers. The company employs a workforce of 150 and it finished 2016 with a profit of 761,000 euros on revenue of 9.6 million euros.

The biggest monthly magazines of Ajakirjade Kirjastus are the women's magazine Eesti Naine with 18,900 copies, the saving, food and home improvement tips magazine Nipiraamat with 17,000 copies, and the home and family magazines Pere ja Kodu and Kodukiri with respectively 12,400 and 12,300 copies. Of weeklies, the TV program magazine Teleleht comes out in 37,000 copies, gossip magazine Kroonika in 33,400 and women's magazine Naisteleht in 28,900 copies.

Ekspress Group's consolidated revenue in 2016 was 63 million euros, of which 50% was the share of joint ventures. The sales revenue of the magazines to be obtained 100% by Ekspress Grupp will be fully recognized in the group's consolidated sales revenue after the transaction. Their annual effect to the consolidated figures will be circa 2 million euros.