AZ Medien and NZZ Media Group merge their regional titles

For both parties, one thing is certain: they could not have imagined any other partner for a merger. "We are both committed to a liberal basic attitude," Etienne Jornod, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NZZ Media Group, told the media in Zurich on Thursday.

"We are joining forces in the regional media business," said Jornod, "creating a powerful regional media company." The new company will become the number one in German-speaking Switzerland, he added.

If you take the regional newspaper titles of AZ Medien and the NZZ Media Group together, they cover most of German-speaking Switzerland from eastern to central Switzerland to Solothurn. "We have to set the right course now," said Jornod. He added that it is important to take advantage of the economies of scale and greater reach that the new company will have.

Peter Wanner said that for him the merger had not been easy: "I'm putting the whole AZ Medien into a joint venture." But the media market is undergoing fundamental changes. The new company is prepared for the challenges, he said.

All articles on the joint venture

Wüstmann: "Don't save for the future".

Addressed to the online medium Watson, which is excluded from the merger, Wanner said, "Watson is a start-up and needs entrepreneurial freedom." Perhaps the platform will be integrated one day.

Those responsible emphasize that they have decided in favor of journalism and against diversification in the strategy of the future company. The idea is not just to save money. Designated CEO Axel Wüstmann said, "You can't save your way into the future."

The partners will submit the documents to the Competition Commission (Comco) at the beginning of January. The review will take several months. The cooperation will not become concrete until the Weko has given its approval.

Imprint: "Prohibit merger

The professional association Imprint demanded on Thursday, among other things, that the Weko should prohibit this merger. The dominance of the publishing market can be socially damaging and thus Article 1 of the Cartel Act applies, the association argues. For the same reason, the merger of the Tamedia titles should be thwarted. The Weko has a responsibility to prevent the dismantling of the democracy-relevant journalistic diversity.

In view of the announced merger, the Syndicom union demanded a commitment that no redundancies would be made in the new company.

The St. Gallen government understands the decision from an economic point of view. However, it is also concerned. A strong and well-functioning media landscape is of central importance for eastern Switzerland. Further concentration of the media landscape would mean that regional needs could no longer be adequately covered.

The merger may also affect the Chur-based media company Somedia, owned by publisher Hanspeter Lebrument. Its daily newspaper Südostschweiz has been working for years with the Aargauer newspaper in the national section. Somedia must first analyze the new situation and clarify many things, said CEO Andrea Masüger. (SDA)