Small extra income - highest publishing relevance
The acquisition of the decade or the retreat of the decade—whether it’s a stroke of luck or a disaster depends on your perspective. One thing is clear:
The acquisition of the decade or the retreat of the decade - whether it's a case of luck or loss depends on the perspective. Obviously, the Basler Mediengruppe (BM) is not dramatically affected by the loss of sales. Jean Frey AG contributed just CHF 95 million to the total turnover of CHF 512 million (July 2000 to June 2001). That is not even quite a fifth. Following last year's sale of the Winterthur printing plant to Ringier for CHF 80 million and the divestment of various smaller companies, BM CEO Matthias Hagemann estimates the new BM sales volume at CHF 330 to 350 million. The parent company will contribute around CHF 220 million, Birkhäuser CHF 80 million and the Baslerstab CHF 40 million, but even for Ringier's total turnover of CHF 1,019 million (2000), the additional CHF 95 million from Jean Frey AG is a mere pittance. The situation is different with regard to the publishing significance of the titles, which are outing themselves as heavyweights. Ringier gains a subscribed circulation of just under 607,000 copies or around 2.2 million readers. And some of these are complementary target groups that Ringier previously lacked. Thanks to their integration into a national customer structure and ample opportunities for cross-promotion, the titles are worth more in Ringier's hands than at BM. See pages 2, 15 and 20 (dse/mk).
