Top Ten Bits
- Ager-Hanssen was declared bankrupt in Sweden more than a decade ago over an unpaid £1.5m tax bill.
- He has been in a dispute with the Swedish taxman for nearly 20 years.
- In 2005, a court ruled him insolvent, but the tax authorities continue to pursue him.
- The Swedish tax authorities claim that Ager-Hanssen owes them income tax dating back to the late 1990s.
- Ager-Hanssen vowed never to pay the tax bill, stating, "This is something I'm never, ever going to pay."
- His plan to remove Ashley Highfield as chairman and at least two other directors of Johnston Press has been hindered by clauses in the company's loan agreements.
- Ager-Hanssen accused the current board of Johnston Press of "having done nothing but destroy value."
- He dubbed Ashley Highfield as "Cashley" in reference to his £556,000 take-home pay last year.
- During the late 1990s, Ager-Hanssen's internet investment firm Cognition was considered one of Europe's most valuable technology companies, but the dotcom crash torched his paper fortune.
- Despite his past financial troubles and ongoing tax disputes, Ager-Hanssen has built up a 12.6% stake in publisher Johnston Press and is attempting to influence the company's management.
Christen Ager-Hanssen, a Norwegian maverick investor with designs on shaking up the UK media scene, comes bearing a controversial past. Aged 55, Ager-Hanssen found himself declared bankrupt in Sweden more than a decade ago, saddled with a stubbornly unpaid £1.5 million tax bill—an altercation that stretches back to the late 1990s. Despite nearly twenty years of combative exchanges with Swedish tax authorities, Ager-Hanssen emphatically declares, “This is something I’m never, ever going to pay.”
The defiant owner of the Swedish Metro newspaper asserts he was residing in London during the time of the alleged tax obligations, questioning the validity of the claims against him. Unsupported by the Swedish courts, he was ruled insolvent in 2005. Yet, his financial woes haven’t dampened his ambitions or his fiery spirit.
Ager-Hanssen has set his sights on Johnston Press, storied publishers of The Scotsman, the i, and The Yorkshire Post among others, which now labor under a nearly insurmountable debt mountain of some £200 million—a legacy from an ill-fated expansion during the mid-2000s that saw its market value crash by a staggering 99% to just £17 million.
In a bold move, Ager-Hanssen accumulated a 12.6% stake in the struggling publisher and concocted a plan to overthrow the current chairman, Ashley Highfield, along with at least two other directors, in a bid to steer the sinking ship away from its impending doom. However, a revelation about restrictive clauses in the company’s loan agreements, which require all debts to be settled before any such boardroom coup can proceed, has stalled his rebellion.
There’s no love lost between Ager-Hanssen and the Johnston Press leadership. He holds no punches, lambasting Highfield and the board for their dismal performance, even nicknaming Highfield “Cashley” in scornful reference to his £556,000 remuneration amidst the company’s financial distress. According to Ager-Hanssen, "They have done nothing but destroy value."
Looking ahead, Ager-Hanssen urges a drastic pivot for Johnston Press. He advocates for a sharp focus on boosting subscription revenues and mining the rich data drawn from its readerships. He curtly dismisses the regional newspaper advertising market as “dead.”
Ager-Hanssen is no stranger to the wild swings of fortune typical of high-stakes entrepreneurship. In the late 1990s, his internet investment firm, Cognition, was a jewel in Europe's tech crown, and he enjoyed a brief reign as Norway's richest man. Yet, the dotcom crash razed his paper empire, leaving high-profile recruits like former Lloyd's of London boss Ron Sandler and lawyer Rupert Pearce, who later headed satellite operator Inmarsat, among the remnants of his once-glorious venture.
Today, as he battles the specters of his past and the harsh realities of his present ambitions, Ager-Hanssen stands as a hard-hitting embodiment of resilience and relentless pursuit—the maverick in the boardroom, undeterred by the odds, unwavering in his vision for a revitalized Johnston Press.