Cicero: Symbolic price, Frank A. Meyer stays
Ringier has sold its German magazines Cicero and Monopol. The new co-owner, Alexander Marguier, explains the background to the management buyout.
Ringier: Management buyout of Cicero and Monopol in Germany
As editor-in-chief and new owner Alexander Marguier told the portal Kress.com reveals, the management buyout was not initiated by Ringier, but had its origins in an inquiry from the editor-in-chief to Michael Ringier as to whether he would be willing to transfer commercial responsibility to Marguier and his deputy Schwennicke. "We had good ideas. Our goal was to have a more direct influence on Cicero's commercial development as well, without the detours via Zurich." Later, Marc Walder asked the two if they could "imagine even more.
Marguier is happy about the new situation: "It's optimal when such enthusiast papers are made commercially and editorially from a single source." As a small publisher, he now has a better view of the business than was possible "from far-off Zurich.
Accordingly, he is confident that Cicero and Monopol can finally be made profitable - although Ringier says it has never succeeded in the last twelve years. Vis-à-vis Horizon.net he explains how this could change: "We save all the overhead costs of a major publisher." The decisive factor, he says, is the revenue side - where, in addition to the Berlin "Cicero Foyer Talk," the company is focusing on new event formats in other cities. And on the new marketer IQ Media, which saves the entire five-person advertising department. Ringier has agreed not to disclose the purchase price. According to Marguier, however, it will be more of a symbolic nature.
The Ringier-affiliated publicist Frank A. Meyer will continue to write for the titles. Marguier told Horizont.net, "FAM can be exhausting, but he's an intellectual asset, a feisty, brilliant mind with incredibly good contacts." (hae)
