Swiss Post acquires Epsilon shares from Edipresse
Swiss Post is acquiring Edipresse Suisse's 34-percent stake in Epsilon, the joint early-delivery and advertising distribution company in French-speaking Switzerland.
As a result, Swiss Post now holds 100 percent of the share capital of Epsilon as of December 14, 2011, according to a joint statement from Swiss Post and Tamedia. With the sale of their stake in Epsilon, Edipresse Suisse and Tamedia intend to focus on their core business with high-reach newspapers, magazines and online media. Swiss Post, in turn, is strengthening its position in the early delivery of newspapers and the delivery of unaddressed items. For the time being, Epsilon will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Post. This will have no immediate impact on staff or customers.
At the same time as the sale, Tamedia and Swiss Post have renewed their distribution agreements for the early delivery of daily and weekly newspapers in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. Edipresse Suisse and Tamedia will remain affiliated with Swiss Post's two early delivery organizations, Epsilon and Presto, according to the announcement, and will be represented on the boards of both companies by Andreas Schaffner, who is responsible for publishing services on Tamedia's management board. The parties have agreed not to disclose details of the sale.
