7digital acquires European competitor 24-7 & welcomes MediaMarktSaturn as shareholder and customer
PRESS RELEASE
Announced 20th June 2017. For more detailed information, please visit http://about.7digital.com/investors, click ‘Latest RNS’ and select article “Acquisition and Major New Contracts”.
MediaMarktSaturn hands over the activities of its B2B music subsidiary 24-7 to 7digital. In return, MediaMarktSaturn will become the biggest individual shareholder of the company, and at the same time an important customer of 7digital and thus is strengthening its digital music business in the field of streaming. As a result, 7digital will in future supply MediaMarktSaturn’s entertainment digital music service Juke! Together with 7digital, MediaMarktSaturn plans to offer additional marketing models for streaming. 7digital is the market leader in B2B digital music services, offering both the technical infrastructure and the global music rights necessary to operate music streaming and radio services.
Wolfgang Kirsch, COO MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group and CEO MediaMarktSaturn Deutschland, declared: “As a leading music retailer in Europe, music streaming will become an increasingly important business for us. As well as offering the 6 million visitors of our stores and online shops an alternative to physical releases, we can also offer added value to the playback devices we sell and attract new customers. Being a shareholder and customer of 7digital will enable us to jointly strengthen our existing offerings and develop new marketing models together.”
Simon Cole, CEO of 7digital, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome MediaMarktSaturn on board as both shareholder and customer. As a result, we will make our services available to more music fans and jointly develop additional marketing concepts. Furthermore, 24-7’s technology will make an outstanding addition to our services.”
MediaMarktSaturn’s streaming service Juke! makes digital music available to subscribers via devices such as iPhones and Android smartphones as well as smart TVs and music systems. Juke! was recently declared the best provider in its field by German consumer association Stiftung Warentest. Apart from music, customers can also use Juke! to access films, books and computer games.
24-7 has other significant customers, including Danish telecom operator TDC; 7digital will take over the running of these client services.
About MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group
MediaMarktSaturn is Europe’s leading commerce company for consumer electronics and related services. It sees itself as a partner, daily companion and navigator for consumers in an increasingly digitized world. MediaMarktSaturn and its portfolio of formats and brands flexibly respond to the needs of different customer groups and countries. Apart from fronting the Media Markt and Saturn brands, which comprehensively network their more than 1,000 fixed-location stores with online sales platforms, the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group operates online pure players such as redcoon and iBood as well as the digital entertainment platform JUKE. Moreover, its portfolio includes its own brands PEAQ, KOENIC, ISY and ok. A subsidiary of METRO AG, in 2015/16 MediaMarktSaturn and its approximately 65,000 employees in 15 countries generated total sales of about €22 billion. The MediaMarkt Saturn Retail Group belongs by a majority to METRO GROUP, which is currently demerging.
METRO GROUP plans to split up the retail group and form two independent companies that are specialized in their respective market segments. Former METRO AG will continue operate under the name of CECONOMY AG. CECONOMY AG (currently: METRO AG) will be the leading platform for companies, concepts and brands in consumer electronics in Europe. CECONOMY’s market position is based in particular on the strong brands Media Markt and Saturn. With more than 2 billion contacts per year, CECONOMY aims to give consumers a sense of orientation and offer them solutions for making the most of the opportunities innovative technologies offer. To this end, CECONOMY will seek to develop new concepts and business models that provide decisive added value for consumers and open up new economic potential for the success of the company and its shareholders. METRO GROUP expects the completion of the demerger by mid-year 2017.
About 7digital
7digital is the global leader in B2B end-to-end digital music solutions. The core of its business is the provision of robust and scalable technical infrastructure and extensive global music rights used to create music streaming and radio services for a diverse range of customers – including consumer brands, mobile carriers, broadcasters, automotive systems, record labels and retailers. 7digital also offers radio production and music curation services, editorial strategy and content management expertise.
7digital fosters industry growth and innovation by simplifying access to music for clients such as Onkyo, Global Radio and musical.ly. From years of being the largest independent producer of programming for the BBC, launching Radioplayer in multiple territories, and powering services for partners like HMV, Electric Jukebox and Panasonic, 7digital is perfectly positioned to lead innovation at the intersection of digital music and next-generation radio services.
About JUKE
JUKE is the product of JUKE Entertainment GmbH, a subsidiary of MediaMarktSaturn Germany. Over 46 million songs, more than 22,400 movies and TV series, 1.5 million e-books, 4,200 PC games and software applications can be rented, purchased and consumed in digital form via JUKE. JUKE music streaming service was rated as the best one in Germany by Stiftung Warentest (issue 9/2016). JUKE users can also obtain support at the more than 400 MediaMarkt and Saturn stores throughout Germany.
You will find more information about JUKE at www.juke-newsroom.com and at Twitter under @JUKE_Presse.
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