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Publishing house von Gruner + Jahr: SPIEGEL Group remains with Bertelsmann
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
The RTL media group takes over the German magazine businesses and brands of the Hamburg magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr.
The transaction is expected to close on January 1, 2022, as announced by RTL Group in Luxembourg.
The takeover was agreed between the RTL Group and the Bertelsmann Group, to which Gruner + Jahr belongs.
According to RTL, the purchase price is 230 million euros excluding cash and debts.
RTL does not take over all the business of the Hamburg publishing house, so Bertelsmann retains its 25 percent stake in the SPIEGEL group and the stake in the DDV media group, to which the »Sächsische Zeitung« belongs.
Gruner + Jahr is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bertelsmann Group.
The publisher includes titles such as "Stern", "Geo", "Brigitte", "Essen & Trinken" and "Schöner Wohnen" and "Gala".
There are also younger brands like »Chefkoch«.
In 2020, the Hamburg magazine publisher's turnover was around 1.14 billion euros.
Bertelsmann holds the majority in the listed RTL Group, which operates in several countries.
The broadcasting group contributes the largest proportion of sales in the Bertelsmann group portfolio.
Bertelsmann boss Rabe: Creating national “champions”
In February it became known that the Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and the Hamburger Zeitschriftenverlag are exploring a stronger cooperation.
Various options should be considered.
In addition to closer cooperation in various fields, the aim was also to develop a joint growth strategy.
Bertelsmann has been relying on the content-related interlinking of corporate divisions for a long time. This can be clearly seen in the media sector: magazine brands, TV and the audio sector exchange content and enter into collaborations for projects. This is how, for example, joint documentaries or podcasts are created. This is also based on the »Champions« strategy - that is, size in a market environment. Bertelsmann boss Thomas Rabe has repeatedly emphasized in recent months that he wants to create national "champions" in European markets in order to be able to regionally counteract international streaming competitors such as Netflix and Amazon.
In the past few years, the publishing house Gruner + Jahr has withdrawn from foreign markets, such as the Netherlands, Spain and Austria.
They wanted to concentrate more on the domestic market.
Some time ago it became known that Gruner + Jahr is also separating from its French magazine division with the subsidiary Prisma Media, which is considered to be the leading consumer magazine publisher in France.
mik / Reuters