Tamedia participates in Doodle
The media company Tamedia has expanded its online portfolio. The company is acquiring a 49 percent stake in the appointment coordination platform Doodle.
An increase is to follow between 2013 and 2016. Until then, the founders Michael Näf and Paul Sevinç will remain involved as managing directors and board members. The Innovation Foundation of Schwyzer Kantonalbank will also remain on board Doodle as a minority shareholder. Doodle and Tamedia announced this in a press release on Thursday. If the deal pays off, Tamedia intends to take over the platform completely by 2016.
The basic service will remain free in the future, said Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer when asked by SDA. However, the media company expects to generate revenue through advertising and the additional paid services for companies. Tamedia also wants to earn money internationally with Doodle.
A partnership with the Swiss directory platform Search.ch will further strengthen Doodle's position in the advertising market and in the SME segment. This will further strengthen the position of the appointment platform in the advertising market and in the SME segment. However, Zimmer emphasized that there are no plans to merge the two websites.
Tamedia did not disclose the price. The parties have agreed not to disclose the details of the investment. The transaction will be reported to the Swiss Federal Competition Commission.
