“It‘s a very good company. We see numerous prospects, indeed, there are many possibilities. You know, it‘s necessary to keep the press independent,” Gudelis told BNS.
He refused to disclose the price he would pay for the shares in Lietuvos Rytas, although he said his bid had been higher that those of competitors.
“Now it‘s necessary to pay for those shares and to start making those payments. We will invest in the future,” Gudelis said.
Gudelis expected the Competition Council to clear the acquisition. The required application had been filed to the watchdog last Friday, he said.
“We have nothing to do with competition here, our companies do not have anything [any media assets],” Gudelis said.
Big Group, which was established by Fragrances International back in 2007 and which would acquire the holding in Lietuvos Rytas, would focus on media business, he added.
Gudelis confirmed that he had been acquainted with the executives and shareholders of Lietuvos Rytas.
“I have known all shareholders of Lietuvos Rytas for more than twenty years,” he told the news portal vz.lt.
Earlier this year, Gudelis was forced to sell a 49-percent stake in Douglas Baltic, the Baltic unit of Douglas, one of Europe’s largest cosmetics chains. Last week, Germany’s Douglas Holding received the green light from the Lithuanian competition panel to buy that holding from Fragrances International.
Fragrances International owns subsidiaries in Latvia and Estonia. Gudelis also owns KristiAna, a company that has a chain of perfumery retail stores in Lithuania and Latvia.
Snoras Media, which was established back in 2009, acquired a 34-percent stake in Lietuvos Rytas early in 2010 and is now the biggest shareholder of the media group. The value of the holding has been put at 20 million litas (EUR 5.8m), which matches the amount, which the company owes to Snoras bank.
Other major shareholders of Lietuvos Rytas include Gedvydas Vainauskas with 25.5 percent, Vidmantas Strimaitis with 12.5 percent, and Algimantas Budrys with 8.1 percent.
Snoras Media, which had no operations last year, posted a 14,000-itas net loss for 2012, reversing the year-earlier profit of 19,000 litas.
