Neue Zürcher Zeitung is ready

Publishers The NZZ wants to campaign for the future independence of the Zürcher Oberländer At the beginning of the week, the Tages-Anzeiger reported that the liberal orientation of the Zürcher Oberländer (ZO) was possibly in danger. The reason: Following a publicly published offer, the Zurich-based investment consultancy firm Albin Kistler, Partner (AKP) now owns a third of the shares in Zürcher Oberland Medien and now wants to sell the package on against the wishes of the newspaper publisher.Peter Edelmann, Director of the ZO, explained the procedure to Werbewoche: "We are in talks with AKP about how we can get out of the situation, because our priority is to find an amicable solution." The share purchases by AKP are not legally valid because they were made without the consent of the Board of Directors. "However, as these are registered shares, the Board of Directors must give its approval," says Edelmann. And he adds: "Our preference would be for the package not to be sold at all."
The NZZ, which shares a liberal orientation with the struggling newspaper, has also taken notice. "We want to help ensure that the ZO can continue to publish an independent newspaper," explains Beat Lauber, Head of Regional Newspapers at the NZZ Group. However, this will only become an issue if the announced change of ownership of the share package takes place in such a way that the ZO would go in a different direction. At the moment, however, Lauber is "not worried" after AKP assured the Tages-Anzeiger that it wanted a good solution and would not simply sell to the highest bidder.
Daniel Schifferle