Agen-VR rejects offer for management buyout at Agefi

 
The Board of Directors of Agen Holding has rejected a takeover offer from current publishing director Yves Claude Aubert for the Swiss business newspaper Agefi. Following the failure of negotiations, the two parties have decided to end their business relationship by mutual agreement, according to a press release. Aubert will therefore leave the company. The media division of the Agen Group, which produces several press products and accounts for around ten percent of total sales at CHF 13.2 million (2007), has been in the red for some time and made a loss of CHF 0.58 million in the first half of 2007. The figure for the year as a whole will be announced at the end of April 2008. There has also been speculation that the Group intends to separate from the press division and only operate in the health division (see:
However, it appears that the restructuring of the loss-making media division is now to be continued under the leadership of Agefi Director Eric Valette. To this end, it is planned to open up the division's capital to new, strategic shareholders, according to the press release. Crédit Suisse has also been commissioned to examine the various development options in cooperation with the newspaper's management and staff.