LONDON (ShareCast) - Northern Europe-focused publishing business Mecom Group has said it welcomes an announcement by the Norwegian Competition Authority that it has cleared the sale of Mecom Europe, the holding company of Edda Media, to A-pressen.

On December 5th last year Mecom announced that it had agreed the sale at a multiple of 7.2 times Edda Media's 2011 full-year consensus earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

The effective proceeds for the disposal of NOK 1,500m (£159m) were expected at that time to result in a net debt reduction of around €190m, but given the strengthening of the Norwegian Kroner against the Euro since December 2011, the net debt reduction on closing will actually be around €195m.

Mecom will receive an additional cash payment from A-Pressen for the free cash flow generated by Edda Media between December 31st 2011 and completion of the sale, which it anticipates will be received within three months of completion.

The share price rose 3.1% to 66.50p by 14:57.

NR

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