No covenant for life
Potential partners of the long-established Bern newspaper are turning them down
Potential partners of the traditional Bernese newspaper wave goodbyeIn three months at the latest, Beat Lauber would like to (or rather: must) present his Board of Directors with a restructuring concept for the Bund that is ready for a decision. However, the regional newspaper boss of the NZZ Group, which holds 80 percent of the ailing capital city newspaper, did not want to reveal more than this time horizon when asked by WerbeWoche. No wonder, as all candidates for a partnership have so far given him the cold shoulder. However, a cooperation is apparently urgently needed due to steadily increasing losses. For Georges von Csernatony, chief strategist at Publicitas, which already holds a 20 percent stake, an increase is out of the question, as is any publishing activity. The "P" has always been happy to help out with its oldest leased title. "However, any further involvement would have to be based on solid financial arguments, and as far as I know, these do not exist."
The CEO of the Basler Mediengruppe, which was recently mentioned by Cash as a potential NZZ local partner, is of the same opinion. Even though the group is always keeping its eyes open for investment opportunities for the Jean Frey proceeds: "We have learned our lessons from the Zurich adventure; a new edition in Bern is not currently under discussion," Beat Meyer clarifies. And Peter Wanner, publisher of the Mittelland Zeitung, feels so little affected by the NZZ's woes that he considers a statement from the outset to be superfluous.
Zurich closing ranks in Bern as an alternative?
But perhaps the search for a partner is just a clever ruse to divert attention from more immediate and far-reaching alliance plans. Wouldn't it be plausible for the NZZ, for example, which is under pressure to make savings, to incorporate the Bund into the Berner Zeitung, which is 49 percent controlled by Tamedia, in order to at least keep a foothold in the Bern market in the longer term? It is no coincidence that Beat Lauber says that "almost anything is conceivable" at the moment.
Oliver Classen
The CEO of the Basler Mediengruppe, which was recently mentioned by Cash as a potential NZZ local partner, is of the same opinion. Even though the group is always keeping its eyes open for investment opportunities for the Jean Frey proceeds: "We have learned our lessons from the Zurich adventure; a new edition in Bern is not currently under discussion," Beat Meyer clarifies. And Peter Wanner, publisher of the Mittelland Zeitung, feels so little affected by the NZZ's woes that he considers a statement from the outset to be superfluous.
Zurich closing ranks in Bern as an alternative?
But perhaps the search for a partner is just a clever ruse to divert attention from more immediate and far-reaching alliance plans. Wouldn't it be plausible for the NZZ, for example, which is under pressure to make savings, to incorporate the Bund into the Berner Zeitung, which is 49 percent controlled by Tamedia, in order to at least keep a foothold in the Bern market in the longer term? It is no coincidence that Beat Lauber says that "almost anything is conceivable" at the moment.
Oliver Classen
