Viaplay Group appoints new Group CFO and co-CEOs of Swedish operations

Viaplay Group today announces the appointment of Johan Johansson as Executive Vice President, Group Chief Financial Officer and co-CEO of the Group’s Swedish operations. Johan will join Viaplay Group no later than 1 August 2024. Christian Albeck, Executive Vice President, Content Acquisition since July 2023, will now also take on the additional role of co-CEO of the Swedish operations on a permanent basis, having served as Interim CEO of the Swedish operations since January 2024. Enrique Patrickson, who has been EVP, Group CFO and Head of Strategy and M&A since August 2022, has decided to leave the Group and will remain in his position during a transition period, in order to ensure a smooth handover to his successor.

Johan Johansson has been CFO and Deputy CEO of the growth and funding platform Gilion (formerly Ark Kapital) for the past year, having previously been CEO and then a Board member of watch and jewellery retailer Daniel Wellington. Prior to this, Johan was CEO of the telecom operator Three in Sweden, after starting his career and spending a total of 10 years at Modern Times Group (MTG), which was Viaplay Group’s former parent company. Johan’s roles at MTG included CFO and Chief Operating Officer of MTG’s Swedish operations, and Vice President of Finance and Operations. Johan is a graduate of KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University.

Christian Albeck has worked at Viaplay Group and MTG for over 21 years, most recently as Executive Vice President, Content Acquisition and Interim CEO of the Swedish operations. Christian was previously Senior Vice President, Content for the Nordic operations, and has held a wide range of other leadership roles. Christian is a graduate of Copenhagen Business School.  

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, Viaplay Group President and CEO: “Johan knows Viaplay Group and our products very well from his previous roles at MTG, and has gathered wide ranging and highly relevant experience from the leadership positions he has held since leaving MTG. I am looking forward to working with him again as we continue to retransform Viaplay Group into the geographically focused and profitably growing company that it should be. We have many operational improvements and innovations to make in Sweden and across the Group, and the combination of Christian and Johan’s skills and backgrounds will be vital in the entrepreneurial development of this exciting business in the rapidly evolving entertainment industry.

“It has been a great pleasure working with Enrique since last June, and I am very grateful to have had him at my side driving the recapitalisation and retransformation of Viaplay Group from a functionally oriented group with broad content spend into a much more country- and product-focused organisation. He has made a vital contribution to getting the Group back on track. Our clear priorities now are to deliver commercially viable content, right-price our entertainment offerings, explore new revenue streams, nurture strategic partnerships and maintain strict cost control in an accountable organisation.”

Simon Duffy, Interim Chair of the Viaplay Group Board of Directors: “I would like to thank Enrique for the instrumental role he played in the recapitalisation process, while at the same time successfully leading the finance, M&A and strategy teams as we have implemented a massive transformation programme and divested significant parts of our business. We wish him the very best for the future. The calibre of the new appointments reflects the strength and attractiveness of the Viaplay Group business, our products and our people. We have a lot to achieve now that the recapitalisation of the Group has been completed, and we are addressing key sales and cost drivers across the business in order to drive improved and sustainable return on investment levels.”

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Viaplay Group AB (publ) is the Nordic region’s leading entertainment provider. Our Viaplay streaming service is available in every Nordic country, as well as in the Netherlands and Poland, and our Viaplay Select branded content concept has been added to partner platforms around the world. We also operate TV channels across most of our markets, as well as radio stations in Norway and Sweden. Our talented people come to work every day with a shared passion and clear mission to entertain millions of people with our unique offering of locally relevant storytelling, which spans premium live sports, films, series and music. Our purpose is to grow our business profitably and responsibly, and deliver sustainable value for all our stakeholders. Viaplay Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘VPLAY B’).

This information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below, at 07:30 CET on 22 March 2024.

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