PubliGroupe and Springer acquire Zanox

 Axel Springer and PubliGroupe are jointly acquiring the online marketing company Zanox.de for EUR 214.9 million plus a performance-related payment. Axel Springer will bear 60 percent of the purchase price and PubliGroupe 40 percent. This was announced by the two companies on Tuesday evening. According to the press release, Axel Springer and PubliGroupe have decided to jointly acquire Zanox.de because both companies are pursuing comparable goals in their digital business areas with different geographical focuses. The acquisition will take place with retroactive effect from January 1, 2007 and is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It has been agreed that, in a further step, the markets will be operated worldwide under the Zanox brand by two companies. These will be majority-owned by Axel Springer and PubliGroupe respectively.
Zanox.de offers advertisers, e-commerce providers and online store operators an internet-based platform for the effective sale of products and services via various channels. The core of the service offering is a network of more than 1 million sales partners in over 180 countries, which companies can use for marketing and sales. Zanox provides a high-performance infrastructure and comprehensive services in over 30 countries for the targeted selection and approach of suitable sales partners. The company participates in every successful transaction generated via its platform through commissions. In addition to affiliate marketing and search engine management, the online marketing services also include e-mail marketing, online shopping and customer loyalty programs.