SBS Broadcasting has made a key acquisition to strengthen its position in the Nordic pay-TV arena. The company acquired a number of top premium movies and sports channels, which should provide strong subscription revenues going forward.

Through its wholly owned Swedish subsidiary, Kanal 5 Holding, SBS acquired the CMore Group for just fewer than 270 million euros ($347.5 million) in cash. The acquisition is likely to close in the second quarter this year, pending local regulatory approvals. The sellers are primarily private equity funds represented by Baker Capital and Nordic Capital.

CMore Group is a leading Nordic pay entertainment provider with more than 770,000 subscribers in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. It is a provider of both premium sports and premium movies in the Nordic region under the Canal+ and CMore brands. The channels are distributed primarily by direct-to-home satellite (DTH), cable, broadband and increasingly by Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT).