Weko: Ringier may take over Le Temps

The Competition Commission has decided not to conduct an in-depth investigation, said spokesman Patrick Ducrey. Ducrey confirmed a report by the Fribourg newspaper La Liberté. This means that Ringier's purchase of Tamedia's stake in Le Temps does not violate antitrust law. Until now, both Zurich-based media houses each held a 46.25 percent stake in the Geneva-based newspaper. Le Temps was offered for sale in October 2013. Several parties then publicly expressed their interest. These included the Friends of Le Temps association, the media VielFalt Holding owned by Christoph Blocher and Tito Tettamanti and Jean-Claude Biver, the head of the LVMH Group's watch business and Hublot president.

92.5 percent of the shares

In April 2014, Ringier finally signed a purchase agreement with Tamedia. Under this agreement, Ringier took over the stake in ER Publishing previously held by Tamedia and became the sole shareholder of ERP and thus the indirect majority shareholder of the French-speaking Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps. Until then, Ringier and Tamedia had jointly controlled Le Temps via ERP. The remaining shares in Le Temps are shared by three parties: Geneva banker Claude Demole owns three percent, the editorial team and staff of Le Temps 2.4 percent and Societé Editrice du Monde SAS a further 2.1 percent. It is not known how much Ringier paid for the Tamedia stake. The director of Ringier Romandie, Daniel Pillard, merely said in April that no knock-down price had been paid.

Ringier strengthens its presence

Le Temps is the only national newspaper in French-speaking Switzerland. Despite a rather small circulation of 39,716 copies and 109,000 readers, the paper is of great importance. French-speaking Switzerland reacted accordingly to the sale. Ringier has promised that the management of Le Temps will remain in French-speaking Switzerland. In addition, the Zurich-based publisher is prepared to invest in the newspaper in French-speaking Switzerland in order to "maintain and improve quality". At the media conference on the takeover, Ringier CEO Marc Walder described it as a "matter of the heart". With the traditional quality newspaper, Ringier is strengthening its strategic position in French-speaking Switzerland and expanding its existing range of French-language products, including L'Hebdo, L'illustré, TV8 and Edelweiss.

Lausanne, Geneva?

The future of the Le Temps editorial team is the subject of heated debate in French-speaking Switzerland. When asked in July, Pillard explained that it had never been Ringier's intention to merge the editorial offices of Le Temps and L'Hebdo. However, the publisher wanted to uncover synergies and keep all doors open, particularly with regard to the location of a possible newsroom. "We are looking for a model, but nothing has been decided yet," Pillard emphasized at the time. Decisions about a reorganization or the location would only be made after the Weko's decision. According to the newspaper Liberté, a meeting between Ringier and the staff will take place on Wednesday. (SDA)