In many ways, the new Schibsted has put all its eggs in one media basket – making the company more vulnerable, argues Professor Ole J. Mjøs, author of the new book Schibsted: The Digital Transformation of a Nordic Media Giant.
Why did Schibsted ASA become a digital media pioneer internationally? And how can the new Schibsted succeed in becoming “the leading media destination in the Nordics” after last year’s corporate split? I wrote the book on the company’s digital and international expansion from 1989 to 2025 in order to find answers to these questions.
Last year, the Tinius Trust acquired the media division of Schibsted ASA, and recently rebranded it as Schibsted. Its major acquisitions of traditional media outlets – MTV in Finland and TV4 in Sweden – indicate the direction and the ambition to become the leading Nordic media company.
But there is a lot at stake and the road ahead is demanding, when the Tinius Trust, now the sole owner is to further develop the company
Long-Term Vision Meets Urgency
The Trust must strike a delicate balance between maintaining long-term perspective and impatience and high expectations to build news media that remain widely read, paid for, are trusted – even by younger audiences – and are capable of competing for attention against global tech platforms – all while achieving profitability.
The Trust must strike a delicate balance between maintaining long-term perspective and impatience and high expectations to build news media that remain widely read, paid for, and are trusted – even by younger audiences – and are capable of competing for attention against global tech platforms – all while achieving profitability.
It is key, particularly for Schibsted, given its size and standing, to succeed in upholding and securing journalism and news media’s societal role.
Throughout the digital transformation and internationalization of the media market, Schibsted ASA distinguished itself from other large media companies. It combined long-term thinking with agility and boldness – also throughout the dot-com and the financial crises, and in the face of the platform companies.
Does the split of Schibsted ASA alter this defining trait?
Tinius’s Legacy
Since its listing on the Norwegian stock exchange in 1992 and up to 2024, Schibsted ASA has maintained an ownership structure that has helped shape this distinctiveness. Tinius Nagell-Erichsen’s ownership position was firmly established with the creation of the Tinius Trust in 1996. The Trust had a 26.1 percent ownership stake and negative control over Schibsted ASA, while the majority of the company was owned by national and international investors.
The Tinius Trust’s role was to ensure long-term thinking, safeguard against foreign takeovers and risk-taking, and maintain a focus on the newspapers and journalism. Investors, on the other hand, represented impatience and expectations of expansion and revenues – and access to capital.
Did much of the distinctiveness and dynamism created by this balance vanish when the Tinius Trust acquired full ownership of the media division and delisted it from the stock exchange?
Did much of the distinctiveness and dynamism created by this balance vanish when the Tinius Trust acquired full ownership of the media division and delisted it from the stock exchange?
Foundations Now Dominate Nordic Media Ownership
The new Schibsted’s ownership model is no longer distinctive. In recent years, trusts and foundations, and not the market, have become the dominant owners of news media across the Nordic region. Today, nearly all of the top 10 news companies in the region have trusts or foundations as central owners. These are meant to secure long-term strategies.
But to be successful owners, the trusts and foundations must also contribute by fostering urgency – setting expectations for innovation and development, within the news companies. And they must do so at a time of major shifts in technology, market dynamics, economic conditions, and user behavior.
While the Tinius Trust may accept lower returns than the market, the new Schibsted is still expected to generate profit.
While the Tinius Trust may accept lower returns than the market, the new Schibsted is still expected to generate profit.
More than Aftenposten and VG
Although Schibsted ASA has long been associated with major media outlets such as Aftenposten and VG in Norway, and Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet in Sweden, its biggest financial success has come from the long-term and bold investments in online classified marketplaces.
In comparison, the financial value of the media division pales in comparison. The international advertising giant Adevinta, which was spun off from Schibsted ASA and delisted in 2024, was then valued at approximately NOK 140 billion.
The Nordic company, Vend, the part of Schibsted ASA that remain publicly traded (including companies such as FINN in Norway and Blocket in Sweden), is now valued at around NOK 35 billion, while the Tinius Trust acquired the entire media division for just over NOK 6 billion, before taking it private.
A Shift Toward Marketplaces
A popular explanation for the 2024 split of Schibsted ASA is that investors have grown less tolerant of capital being allocated to the media operations. Instead, they prefer investments in the much more profitable online classifieds and marketplace businesses.
When the sale of the media division was announced, Schibsted ASA’s share price actually rose by 9 percent. In that sense, the split also exposed the limitations of the dynamic once created by the combination of the Tinius Trust and the stock market in the 1990s.
When the sale of the media division was announced, Schibsted ASA’s share price actually rose by 9 percent. In that sense, the split also exposed the limitations of the dynamic once created by the combination of the Tinius Trust and the stock market in the 1990s.
But could the split of Schibsted ASA now limit the potential of the new Schibsted? Will the new Schibsted continue Schibsted ASA’s tradition of combining long-term vision with speed and boldness?
A Desire to Stay United
During the lead-up to the split, there were strong internal voices advocating for keeping Schibsted ASA intact and even further integrating the company – taking inspiration from companies like Google.
After all, the split marked the end of a long-standing, central ambition: to create value through the interplay and synergies between the two business areas – media and online classified ads and marketplaces.
Although the Tinius Trust still owns about 22 percent of Vend, which in turn owns around 14 percent of Adevinta, the new Schibsted is disconnected from the substantial revenues generated by the online classifieds business – and is no longer directly connected to the market. In many ways, the new Schibsted has put all its eggs in one media basket – making the company more vulnerable.
Since 1996, the Tinius Trust has been the long-term steward of Schibsted ASA’s digital and international journey. What will be crucial now is how the Trust, on its own, can also carry on and maintain the boldness, decisiveness, and momentum, which long defined the unified Schibsted ASA.
This op-ed was originally published in Norwegian in Aftenposten. English translation by Anna Pacholczyk.
Mjøs’s book, Schibsted: The Digital Transformation of a Nordic Media Giant, is published by Routledge and is available for purchase here.
Image: Adobe Stock.