Blocher takes over 20 percent of the Baz holding company
Christoph Blocher is joining Baz-Holding. Through his financing company, Robinvest, he is acquiring 20 percent of the share capital for 306,000 francs. He is also set to become a member of the Baz-Holding board of directors.
In addition, Robinvest will take over loans from Medienvielfalt-Holding (MVH) in the amount of 40 million francs, which MVH had previously granted to Baz-Holding, wrote National Councilor Filippo Leutenegger, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BaZ-Holding, in Tuesday's edition of the Basler Zeitung. Blocher had already been involved in the printing plant closure, the takeover of real estate and the restructuring of Baz, MVH majority shareholder Tito Tettamanti said in an interview with the newspaper. "That's why we thought it was appropriate to give him the opportunity to share in the profits."
MVH previously owned 100 percent of Baz Holding. Tettamanti had bought the struggling newspaper and printing group from the Hagemann publishing family in February 2010, with lawyer Martin Wagner acting as the new publisher. When Tettamanti and Wagner appointed Blocher biographer Markus Somm as Baz editor-in-chief in August 2010, suspicions arose for the first time that Blocher was involved in the Basler Zeitung.
In November 2010, Tettamanti sold on to former Crossair patron Moritz Suter. A good year later, Suter gave up in frustration and returned his shares to Rahel Blocher - in the process, Blocher's co-ownership became public knowledge. Rahel Blocher sold on to Tito Tettamanti's holding company in the same month. (SDA)
Image: Keystone
