Swiss media group Ringier buys Edipresse in Romania, both companies still in the red

Swiss media group Ringier AG, Switzerland has acquired competitor Edipresse A.S. Romania, a joint venture of the Swiss Edipresse publishing group and the German Axel Springer media establishment. With this move, Ringier has added a handful of magazines published by Edipresse Elle, Avantaje, Look!, Psychologies, Intamplari Adevarate, Povestea Mea, Lucru de Mana, Povesti de Viata, Baby, Viva, Popcorn and the custom publishing division. Edipresse will focus on other markets and activities, according to its representatives. In Romania, Edipresse posted a turnover of EUR 5.5 million last yea r, according to most recent financial data, while posting a loss of EUR 691,000. Buyer Ringier Romania reported revenues of EUR 19 million and also reported a loss: EUR 6.7 million. The value of the deal was not disclosed. “The purchase of Edipresse A.S. Romania is an important step for the successful future development of our associative Ringier Romania establishment. The newly gained and well developed portfolio ideally suits our existing magazines structure and further compliments this with strong titles,” said Florian Fels, CEO of Ringier Central Europe. The Edipresse Romania activities will be integrated in the organization of Ringier Romania. Ringier has been active in Romania since 1992 and currently has over 400 employees. It operates around a dozen print and online products, amongst which the tabloid paper Libertatea. Earlier last year, Ringier sold its generalist newspaper Evenimentul Zilei and its business weekly Capital to Romanian businessman Bobby Paunescu. The official announcement of the recent deal here. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Ringier)