No expansion of the shareholder structure of Le Temps

In April 2014, Ringier signed a purchase agreement with Tamedia under which Ringier will acquire the 50 percent stake in ERP previously held by Tamedia and thus become the sole shareholder of ERP and indirectly the majority shareholder of the daily newspaper Le Temps in French-speaking Switzerland. With this traditional quality newspaper, Ringier is strengthening its strategic position in French-speaking Switzerland with its existing range of French-language products (L'Hebdo, L'illustré, TV8 and Edelweiss). The takeover is currently still being examined by the Swiss Federal Competition Commission (Comco).

After a thorough review, Ringier has now decided not to add any additional investors to its shareholder structure following approval by the Weko. In particular, after intensive discussions with Le Cercle des amis du Temps, it has been agreed not to include the private sponsorship in the shareholder structure of Le Temps, according to a statement on Wednesday. Several discussions were held with the co-presidents of the Cercle des amis du Temps, Olivier Vodoz, former State Councillor of Geneva, and Charles Kleiber, former Secretary of State, and it was decided to maintain this valuable contact.

The shareholder structure is to be kept deliberately lean in view of the structural challenges facing the media industry. The shareholder structure of Le Temps after completion of the takeover is therefore as follows: ER Publishing (wholly owned by Ringier AG): 92.456 percent, Geneva banker Claude Demole: 3.048 percent, Société des rédacteurs et du personnel du Temps: 2.4 percent, Société Editrice du Monde SAS: 2.096 percent.

No decisions will be made regarding a possible reorganization or even a change of location of the Le Temps editorial office until the Competition Commission has completed its review.