CH Media acquires the 3-Plus station group

Channels 3+, 4+, 5+ and 6+ change hands. CH Media is taking over the 3-Plus Group. This was announced by the two media companies on Friday afternoon. The parties have agreed not to disclose the sale price. In the run-up, prices of between CHF 100 and 120 million were circulating - in the CH Media newspaper Switzerland at the weekend The price is rumored to be 100 million Swiss francs. The purchase was financed by CH Media's own capital and bank loans.

3+ founder Dominik Kaiser will remain CEO until the transaction is completed and will then assist CH Media as a consultant in the merger of the two companies. After that, Kaiser will devote himself to new tasks: "I don't know yet what I'm going to do with my time, it's an unfamiliar feeling," Kaiser said on Friday at the media conference, which was called at short notice. "The whole thing is very emotional for me, I cried with the employees today". Sooner or later, however, he will want to build something again, says Kaiser, who is putting his life's work into new hands with 3+.

Axel Wüstmann, CEO CH Media, Dominik Kaiser, founder and CEO 3-Plus Group, and Peter Wanner, Chairman of the Board CH Media (from left) after the press conference on Friday.

CH Media says it reaches around two million people in German-speaking Switzerland with regional newspapers and online portals, radio and TV stations, and magazines. With sales of around 480 million and over 2,000 employees, the media company is one of the largest in the country.

According to its own information, the 3-Plus Group employs a total of around 65 people. The Swiss private broadcaster 3+ launched in August 2006. 3+ was in the black for the first time in fiscal 2009. 4+ began operations in October 2012, 5+ in September 2014 and 6+ in March 2019. (hae/SDA/pd)

All 65 employees are taken on

But there is no reason for the 3+ employees to mourn: They will all be taken over by CH Media. Kaiser would also have liked to keep Peter Wanner as managing director: "Unfortunately, we didn't succeed." The head of the new group, which unites all CH Media stations, will be Roger Elsener.

Clear number 1 for the private sector

As Peter Wanner, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CH Media, explained, they are now the clear number 1 among private Swiss TV providers. "We are David, the SRG Goliath". He added that the 3-Plus group of stations, in association with TV24, TV25 and S1, ideally complemented the existing regional TV business. The goal now is to catch up with SRF 2 in terms of market share, and if possible even overtake it.

Axel Wüstmann, CEO of CH Media, said he was pleased that CH Media "can invest forward". Today is a milestone in the development, he said. The shareholders are also convinced that moving images have a future, he said.