Finland's Sonoma sells stake in Russian financial paper Vedemosti

Finnish group Sanoma has sold its stake in Russia's major financial newspaper Vedomosti, months after the country passed a law limiting foreign ownership of the media.

Demyan Kudryavtsev, a former chief executive of the Russian publishing house Kommersant, confirmed that he would acquire Sanoma's 33.3 per cent stake in Vedomosti, as well as all of its English-language newspaper The Moscow Times.

Sanoma has been trying to sell several media assets in Russia since announcing a strategic review in October 2013.

A law passed last year also prevents foreign companies from owning more than 20 per cent of a media outlet from 2016 - a move widely seen as an attempt by Vladimir Putin, Russian president, to undermine critics. CNN has already closed its channel in the country in response.

Vedomosti, well-known for its investigative reporting, was set up in 1999 as a joint venture between the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times Group and Independent Media, later acquired by Sanoma.

Sanoma said Ivania Limited, owned by Mr Kudryavtsev, bought its 33.3 per cent stake in Delovoi Standard - publisher of Vedomosti - while MoscowTimes LLC, also owned by Mr Kudryavtsev, bought United Press, which includes the Moscow Times, Harvard Business Review Russia and other magazines. No value was disclosed.

"We are confident that these iconic titles are in good hands and will continue to develop as some of Russia's leading media titles," Sanoma's president Harri-Pekka Kaukonen said.

The Financial Times Group and News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal, still own one-third of Vedomosti each. "We continue to review the implications of recent changes to Russian legislation limiting foreign ownership of media organisations," the Financial Times said in a statement.

Last week, John Ridding, Financial Times Group chief executive, called the new law "unfortunate" at the annual meeting of Pearson, the company that owns the Financial Times. He added that the group had "championed a free and independent press in Russia as best we can".

Other reported buyers for Vedomosti included Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team who ran against Mr Putin for the presidency in 2012.

Mr Kudryavtsev left Kommersant in 2012, shortly after reports that its owner, metals magnate Alisher Usmanov, had sacked an editor following pressure from the Kremlin. At the time he denied that politics had played a role in his departure.

Sanoma acquired Independent Media, owner of the Vedomosti stake, the Moscow Times and several Russian magazines, in 2005 at an enterprise value of €142m.

It agreed the sale of some titles last December to Hearst Shuklev Media, booking a loss of €10m. It said it would book "a non-recurring capital gain of around €8 million before currency translation adjustment" on the deals with Mr Kudryavtsev.

Sanoma is still seeking to sell one further Russian title, Grazia, which is published in a joint venture with Mondadori, the Italian publishing house.

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