Offer in the millions: SVP circles want to buy the Blick Group from Ringier
Ex-SVP National Councilor Walter Frey apparently wants to buy the Blick Group and has made Ringier a remarkably high purchase offer.
The NZZ am Sonntag, which made the takeover plans public, refers in its research to the independent statements of two members of Ringier's upper management.
According to the report, Martin Wagner, a business lawyer from Basel, is said to have made Ringier an offer of 230 million Swiss francs for Blick, SonntagsBlick, Blick am Abend and the associated online portals on behalf of Walter Frey and other investors. A strikingly high amount for media titles that are not particularly profitable.
Walter Frey, who Wagner calls "by far the biggest investor," already published the free newspaper Züri-Woche in the 1980s and has owned the Stadt-Anzeiger of Opfikon since 2010. In the same year, he also wanted to buy the Zürichsee-Zeitung, but it ultimately went to Tamedia.
Free Sunday newspaper as a means of pressure
According to NZZ am Sonntag, Ringier was not very pleased when Walter Frey's name was mentioned in connection with the offer. The newspaper cites three reasons for the disgruntlement: First, Ringier sees itself as a media company with a left-liberal orientation. Secondly, the fact that the remaining investors are not known is perceived as disturbing. It is considered unlikely that Frey alone will pay the 230 million.
The third point raises eyebrows: Wagner is said to have hinted during talks with the Group's top management that if the deal did not go through, the free Sunday newspaper project would be given priority. A project that Christoph Blocher has been talking about since mid-2016. The statement can be understood as a threat, because Blocher's free newspaper would be a sensitive competitor for SonntagsBlick. The threatening scenario: Better to sell voluntarily than to go under.
Blocher wants nothing to do with it
It is an open secret that Christoph Blocher wants to expand his media influence. However, his plan has stalled after he was rebuffed by various media houses. The restriction on the transferability of NZZ shares prevents a major shareholder from taking control. Negotiations with Tamedia were broken off and AZ Medien did not want to exchange Schweiz am Sonntag for the Basler Zeitung. It is understandable that Ringier now suspects that Christoph Blocher also has a hand in Walter Frey's bid. But Blocher waves it off and says he has never heard of such a purchase offer and has nothing to do with it.
Whatever the case, the media company seems to have little interest in handing over the Blick Group to the right-wing camp, even though the sale would be extremely lucrative financially. Ringier's lawyer Wagner is said to have told the company after a brief deliberation that the sales talks would not be continued. And the NZZ am Sonntag was told that a sale of the Blick Group was "out of the question". (hae/NZZaS)
