Retreat on many fronts
Fritz Schuhmacher's positions on media boards of directors are coming under increasing fire.
Trustee Fritz Schuhmacher as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of
PubliGroupe. But his seat has been shaky ever since the SonntagsZeitung
two weeks ago that his company was being investigated by International
Treuhand AG (Itag) is being investigated for property offenses.
Schuhmacher is not only a member of the PubliGroupe's top committee. He
has spun a far-reaching web of mandates. These include the
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vogt-Schild Holding (Solothurner Zeitung) and the
Vice-Chairman of Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM). But for both
an end is in sight.
Schuhmacher resigned from Vogt-Schild last week until further notice.
to take a leave of absence. He justified the move with the additional workload
through the investigations against Itag. With the BZM, the advocate must
will step down from his position on November 24. According to publisher Matthias Hagemann
however, this has nothing to do with the Itag affair. It is the consequence
from conversations he had some time ago with the PubliGroupe management.
Hagemann told the news platform Onlinereports.ch: "I
have been following the obvious conflicts for some time, which
shoemaker carries around with him. Gradually it became apparent that he had lost his
different interests can no longer be reconciled." The
had led to a clouding of the relationship of trust.
Hagemann himself had appointed Schuhmacher to the BoD five years ago.
and created the office of Vice President specifically for this purpose. Even before
a year ago, the publisher described the dual mandate
BZM/Vogt-Schild in an interview with Werbewoche as "for us
unproblematic".
Itag sold
Schuhmacher also resigned from all positions at the beginning of the week.
Itag's administrative bodies. He and the second main shareholder, Konrad
Annasohn, have sold their Itag shares to the Basel-based consulting firm Remaco
Merger sold. This should secure the future of the intact company.
Schuhmacher told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. At the same time
but further weakened its position in the PubliGroupe VR. Because
Schuhmacher's ticket to the board was the shares of the
advertising group, which is owned by the Gerstenhauer family foundation, the
in turn managed by Itag. The foundation is the legacy of the
former Publicitas Director General Jean-Robert Gerstenhauer, who in 1968
has passed away. With 11.27%, she is the largest single shareholder in the
PubliGroupe.
However, Itag's mandate for the Gerstenhauer Foundation is now also coming to an end.
under fire. A member of the family is suing for the annulment of the
Foundation, as it was pursuing unauthorized commercial purposes.
According toSonntagsZeitung, the profits are not distributed as the founder intended.
to family members, but largely flow back into the family.
to the foundation, which is controlled exclusively by Itag.
"This should also make it clear that Schuhmacher (...) is also a
Vice Chairman of PubliGroupe will resign," said the
Tages-Anzeiger in the Monday edition. It was that far with
However, the editorial deadline for this advertising week has not yet been reached.
PubliGroupe CEO Hans-Peter Rohner was able to answer the question of whether
Schuhmacher's office was under discussion. He
merely pointed out that the next BoD meeting would be held on (last)
will take place on Wednesday. Whether the topic will be discussed
Rohner was not able to say.
Stefano Monachesi
