News agency DDP buys German AP
A new heavyweight is emerging in the German news market. The Berlin-based agency DDP is taking over the German operations of its competitor, AP. The deal also includes AP's subsidiaries in Switzerland and Austria.
DDP co-owner Martin Vorderwülbecke said on Tuesday that a "mid double-digit million euro amount" would be paid for this. The 110 permanent employees would be taken on, Vorderwülbecke told the Reuters news agency. Both agencies together have 230 editors. The declared aim is to take customers away from market leader DPA. DDP is already in talks with many newspaper publishers. Declining advertising revenues and the migration of readers to the Internet have put many media companies under pressure. In order to reduce costs, some want to manage without DPA. According to Vorderwülbecke, it is precisely these publishers that are to be lured to DDP/AP with lower prices.
The AP is to remain an independent agency with its own profile. As part of the deal, DDP also acquires the license to use all content of the multilingual international AP service, for which around 3,000 journalists work in 250 offices worldwide.
The AP is to remain an independent agency with its own profile. As part of the deal, DDP also acquires the license to use all content of the multilingual international AP service, for which around 3,000 journalists work in 250 offices worldwide.
