Waz sale sealed
The German Waz media group has reorganized its ownership structure with a deal worth millions: The three heirs of co-founder Erich Brost have sold their 50 percent share to Petra Grotkamp.
The daughter of the second company founder Jakob Funke thus holds a calculated 66.6 percent, Grotkamp's lawyer announced on Monday evening. The Federal Cartel Office has already given its approval. The acquisition will take place with retroactive economic effect as of December 31, 2011. The executor of the Brost heirs has given his approval and the contracts have been signed, the publishing group announced. The purchase price was not disclosed.
According to industry circles, it should be around 500 million euros. Former Chancellery Minister Bodo Hombach, who was Waz Managing Director for the Brost side for ten years, will leave this position with the deal. However, he will continue to advise the media group, according to Hombach, who welcomed the sale to Grotkamp in a statement.
The social democrat Erich Brost and the conservative Jakob Funke founded the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in 1948 with a license from the British military government. It became one of the largest regional newspaper publishers in Europe. Today, the Waz media group owns 40 newspapers and more than 100 magazines. With around 15,000 employees, the group generated a turnover of around 1.1 billion euros in 2011, compared to 1.2 billion euros in 2010. After significant staff reductions, the operating result for 2011 is expected to be in the three-digit million range again.
No more obligation to reach an agreement
Following the clarification of the ownership structure, further reforms at Waz are expected in the industry, for example to expand the digital offering. However, the new majority owner Grotkamp must coordinate with the two other owners Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner and Renate Schubries.
The contracts also include Grotkamp's assurance that he will not sell on any Group companies for at least one year, according to executor Peter Heinemann. However: "The end of the previous obligation to reach agreement between the two founding families facilitates decision-making within the Group. For the future, this is an important prerequisite for further expanding the Waz media group," writes Heinemann. (SDA)
