Publigroupe AGM says yes to Publicitas sale
Publigroupe's General Meeting has given the green light for the sale of its subsidiary Publicitas. For the time being, however, the advertising marketer remains silent on the possible sale of Local.ch.
The meeting in Lausanne on Tuesday approved with 99.23 percent a corresponding amendment to the articles of association for the sale of Publicitas. At the beginning of April, Publigroupe had announced that it would sell Publicitas, and with it its core newspaper advertising business, to the German investment company Aurelius for more than CHF 10 million (Werbewoche.ch reported). Publigroupe thus intends to focus on digital business. The company needed the approval of its shareholders for this step. The OK of the competition authorities is still pending. The General Meeting also followed all other motions of the Board of Directors.
Publigroupe says nothing about Local.ch sale
There was nothing new to be heard at the Annual General Meeting regarding Local.ch. The dossier is not yet ready for debate, said Chairman of the Board Hans-Peter Rohner before the meeting. The media house Tamedia and the telecom group Swisscom are vying for the lucrative advertising platform Local.ch, 50 percent of which is owned by Publigroupe. The Zurich media house wants to pay 350 million Swiss francs for the whole of Publigroupe and thus also grab the 50 percent share that Publigroupe holds in Local.ch. Swisscom already owns 50 percent of Local.ch. But the telecom market leader would prefer to have the profitable web service all to itself and is prepared to put 230 million francs on the table for the other half. For the time being, Publigroupe has the option to continue autonomously. After the offers from Tamedia and Swisscom, all aspects will be carefully examined, it said. Before that, Publigroupe would not take a position. While there are currently no indications of further offers, "we have to be ready," Rohner said. (SDA)
