Dominique Hiltbrunner withdraws from the purchase of the stake in Schweizer Bauer

Following the strong expansion of his media portfolio last year, the Basel-based media entrepreneur is now entering a phase of consolidating his activities. For this reason, Dominique Hiltbrunner has informed Espace Media and the co-owner Ökonomische und Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft des Kantons Bern (OGG) that he wishes to withdraw from the purchase agreement agreed in February 2012. The two partners have agreed to this step, as they wrote in a press release on Friday.

However, Espace Media still intends to part with Schweizer Bauer for strategic reasons. According to the press release, the resignation of Dominique Hiltbrunner will have no direct consequences for the 27 members of the editorial and sales team. Exclusive negotiations for the sale of Espace Media's 49 percent stake in Schweizer Bauer are currently underway and are already well advanced. The sale of the stake in Schweizer Bauer will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Der Schweizer Bauer was founded in 1846 by the Ökonomische und Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft des Kantons Bern OGG and was managed by this organization for almost 150 years. In 1992, Espace Media took over 49 percent of the newspaper as well as the management. The commercially extremely successful Swiss agricultural newspaper is published twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday with a circulation of 31,290 copies (Wemf circulation statistics 2012).

Women in Business in new hands

Dominique Hiltbrunner has also decided to place the Women in Business magazine in new hands. Women in Business, the Swiss business magazine for women, was launched by Hiltbrunner three years ago. As of November, the magazine will be published by P.A. Media.

As publisher, Hiltbrunner will now concentrate on the specialist media Mobil (Automobil Revue and Revue Automobile) in Berne and Publitex in Basel (Spatz and Blickpunkt). In Bern, he will act as CEO on an ad interim basis. Hans Gerber has been appointed Managing Director of Publitex.

"After much deliberation, I came to the decision to concentrate on a few core titles in order to be able to push ahead with the expansion of the titles. With Automobil Revue and Revue Automobile as national automotive newspapers, Spatz as a regional product and Blickpunkt as a national SME title, I have a good portfolio. Women in Business has always given me a lot of pleasure and I am handing it over to P.A. Media with a smile and a tear in my eye," says Hiltbrunner.