Basler Zeitung is sold to private investors

Tito Tettamanti (pictured) is acquiring 75 percent of Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM), while Basel media lawyer Martin Wagner is taking over 25 percent, according to a press release issued on Monday. The parties did not disclose the sale price. Wagner will become the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of BZM and publisher of Basler Zeitung; the current Chairman Matthias Hagemann will remain a member of the Board of Directors.
The Hagemann family, which acquired a majority stake in the group 59 years ago, has been looking for a buyer for BZM since last fall. The aim of the takeover was to preserve the Basler Zeitung as an independent daily newspaper, Martin Wagner was quoted as saying. The aim was to send out a signal against the concentration of the press in Switzerland.
The relationship between BZM publisher Matthias Hagemann and Publigroupe, which held 37 percent of the shares, had cooled for some time. The sale of the BZM shares is now in line with the strategy of disposing of holdings "that are no longer seen as strategic", Publigroupe CEO Hans-Peter Rohner is quoted as saying in the communiqué.

Armchair backrest
While Matthias Geering will remain Editor-in-Chief of the publishing flagship BaZ, the head of BZM will be replaced: Beat Meyer will have to vacate his CEO chair; his successor will be the current Head of Finance Jürgen Hunscheidt. In addition, the former publishing director Roland Steffen will become operational director (COO) for the entire group.
The BZM Group currently comprises 14 independent companies. The Basler Zeitung
with a circulation of around 88,000 is the best known, as well as free and community newspapers and printing companies. In 2008/09, BZM had a turnover of CHF 263 million and a loss of a good CHF 12 million with around 1,200 employees.

Old business relationships
Hagemann has done business with Tettamanti before: when he was not happy with Zurich-based Jean Frey AG and Weltwoche, he sold the publishing house to the Ticino financier in 2002. He then sold Weltwoche to Roger Köppel in 2006.
Wagner has been BZM's Group lawyer for some time, but is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Weltwoche and a member of the Board of Directors of Axel Springer Switzerland. He took over Radio Basilisk in 2007 and sold it to the Hagemann family three weeks ago - privately, not to BZM, as was emphasized.

(Photo: Matthias Hagemann (left) and Martin Wagner (right) at the press conference in Basel).