Stagnation in the advertising market and large debts have forced one of the world's largest media holdings, Sanoma, to think about selling its assets in Russia, including the Vedomosti newspaper, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Men's Health magazines, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote on Thursday.

As the newspaper reports, citing sources, Sanoma is already discussing with potential buyers the possibility of selling Russian assets. The Finnish media group may sell its shares in the assets of the publishing house Sanoma Independent Media (SIM). The publication notes that SIM CEO Jean-Emmanuel de Witt refused to answer whether this was true and said that this was a question for shareholders.

The newspaper's sources name Hearst as the main contender for the purchase of SIM. In Russia, Hearst owns half of another large publishing house, Hearst Shkulev Media, which produces Elle, Maxim magazines, etc. The president and co-owner of the publishing house, Viktor Shkulev, refused to answer the question about Hearst’s participation in negotiations on the purchase of SIM.

According to another Vedomosti source, the German company Bauer is also interested in Sanoma's Russian business. She publishes the magazines Joy, Planet of Women, and Secrets of the Stars in Russia.

Sanoma owns newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television stations in 20 European countries. After buying the television business in Belgium and Holland in April 2011 for €1.23 billion, its net debt doubled from €878 million in 2010 to €1.6 billion in 2011, with revenues of €2.8 billion and €2 .4 billion respectively.

In 2013, the company lowered its revenue and profitability forecast several times. Over the past two years, Sanoma has divested itself of non-core assets such as chains of print kiosks and cinemas, bookstores, book publishers and a hockey team. This summer she sold magazines in Romania and Bulgaria. In 2012, Sanoma's net debt amounted to €1.24 billion with revenue of €2.4 billion.

SIM is one of the largest publishing houses in Russia, founded by Derk Sauer in 1992. Sanoma bought it in 2005 for almost €150 million.

Media holding Sanoma is thinking about selling its Russian assets