De Persgroep

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De Persgroep is a Belgian publishing company owning media assets in Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The firm is owned by the Van Thillo family.

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Contents

History

In 1987 the Van Thillo family, already the publishers of magazines Joepie (1973) and Dag Allemaal (1984), obtained 66 percent of shares in the Flemish publishing company Hoste nv, publisher of newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, magazine Blik and other publications. In 1990 the rest of the shares were acquired and the company’s name was changed to De Persgroep. The company had already bought Flemish newspaper publisher De Nieuwe Morgen in 1989, giving it ownership over a second newspaper, De Morgen.

Flemish variety of the Dutch language as spoken in Flanders (Belgium)

Flemish (Vlaams) also called Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch, or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands), is a Lower Franconian / Dutch dialect. It is spoken in the whole northern region of Belgium as well as French Flanders and the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders by approximately 6.5 million people. The term is used in at least five ways. These are:

  1. as an indication of Dutch written and spoken in Flanders including the Dutch standard language as well as the non-standardized dialects, including intermediate languages between dialect and standard. Some linguists avoid the term Flemish in this context and prefer the designation Belgian-Dutch or South-Dutch.
  2. as a synonym for the so-called intermediate language in Flanders region, the Tussentaal.
  3. as an indication for the non-standardized dialects and regiolects of Flanders region.
  4. as an indication of the non-standardized dialects of only the former County of Flanders, ie the current provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, Zeelandic Flanders and Frans-Vlaanderen.
  5. as an indication of the non-standardized West Flemish dialects of the province of West Flanders, the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders and French Frans-Vlaanderen.

Also in 1987, De Persgroep was one of nine publishers involved in the foundation of VTM or Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij, the first and still main commercial TV broadcaster in Flanders. The channel was launched on 1 February 1989. Each publisher originally owned 11.1% of the new company's shares. Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij launched a second TV channel, first known as Ka2 but now Q2, on 30 January 1995 and in the years to come either launched or bought several more, as well as two radio stations and two MVNOs. Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij changed its name twice, first to Vlaamse Media Maatschappij (VMMa) and later to Medialaan. The ownership structure also changed, with De Persgroep eventually owning half of Vlaame Televisie Maatschappij's shares and Roularta holding the other half. This situation held until 2018, when De Persgroep bought Roularta's stake.

VTM (TV channel) Belgian Dutch-speaking commercial TV station

VTM or Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij is the main commercial television station in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium and forms part of a network of channels owned by Medialaan.

Q2 (TV channel) Belgian TV channel

Q2, formerly Kanaal 2 and 2BE, is a Belgian television channel owned by the commercial broadcasting company Medialaan.

A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), virtual network operator (VNO), or mobile other licensed operator (MOLO), is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobile network operator to obtain bulk access to network services at wholesale rates, then sets retail prices independently. An MVNO may use its own customer service, billing support systems, marketing, and sales personnel, or it could employ the services of a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE).

In 2002 De Persgroep entered the book publishing and DVD distribution sectors. [1]

De Persgroep joined forces with the Walloon media group Groupe Rossel in 2003 to acquire Editco, the publisher of French-language business paper L'Echo , mainly distributed in Brussels and Wallonia. [2] In 2005, the two groups also bought Uitgeverij De Tijd, publisher of De Tijd , the Flemish counterpart to L'Echo. Editco and Uitgeverij De Tijd merged and became Mediafin, with De Persgroep and Groupe Rossel each holding 50% in the venture.

Groupe Rossel is a major media group in Brussels and Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. The daily newspaper Le Soir is one of their main and most successful publications. The other daily the company owns is the subsidiary SudPresse, which publishes daily newspapers including La Capitale and La Meuse. Together with De Persgroep, Rossel purchased the two broadsheets De Tijd and L'Echo, and merged them into the new Mediafin.

<i>LEcho</i>

L'Echo is a Belgian business newspaper, published by Mediafin and mainly distributed in Wallonia and Brussels. It is the French counterpart of the Flemish daily De Tijd which is its sister paper.

Brussels Capital region of Belgium

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region. Brussels is the most densely populated and the richest region in Belgium in terms of GDP per capita. It covers 161 km2 (62 sq mi), a relatively small area compared to the two other regions, and has a population of 1.2 million. The metropolitan area of Brussels counts over 2.1 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium. It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven and Walloon Brabant, home to over 5 million people.

Foreign acquisitions (PCM Publishing, VNU Media, Wegener and Berlingske Media)

PCM Publishing was created through the merger of two companies: Perscombinatie and Meulenhoff & Co. In 1994, Perscombinatie ( de Volkskrant , Trouw and Het Parool ) acquired a majority stake in Meulenhoff & Co. The Perscombinatie's name was shortened to PCM and publication of newspapers and books became its core activities. [3] In late 1995, PCM acquired the Nederlandse Dagbladunie (TVNZ and Algemeen Dagblad ) and became publisher of four of the five national newspapers, four regional titles and door-to-door papers in the Randstad. PCM sold its stake in Het Parool to De Persgroep in 2002 [4] , making it De Persgroep's first foreign investment.

<i>de Volkskrant</i> Dutch newspaper

de Volkskrant is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000.

<i>Trouw</i> Dutch newspaper

Trouw is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it is owned by De Persgroep. Trouw received the European Newspaper Award in 2012. Cees van der Laan is the current editor-in-chief.

<i>Het Parool</i> Dutch newspaper

Het Parool is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means The Password or The Motto.

PCM was acquired by British-based investment group Apax Partners in 2004. [5] In 2005, Algemeen Dagblad and four regional newspapers were housed in AD New Media BV, with PCM holding a 63% interest in the venture. [3]

In July 2009, De Persgroep acquired a majority stake in PCM Publishing and renamed the subsidiary De Persgroep Nederland. [3] A number of transactions were connected to the main acquisition. In July 2009, De Persgroep Nederland sold the house-to-house papers (PCM Local Media) to Wegener. Shortly after, De Persgroep Nederland acquired the 37% stake that Wegener held in AD New Media BV. The acquisition also included the printing house of Wegener in The Hague. Next, De Persgroep Nederland sold NRC Handelsblad and nrc.next for 70 million euros to Egeria in 2009 [6] and the PCM Algemene Boeken book-publishing unit (b.o. Meulenhoff & Co) to WPG Uitgevers and Lannoo. As a result, De Persgroep Nederland became the publisher of four national newspapers, Algemeen Dagblad, de Volkskrant, Trouw and Het Parool. [3]

In 2012, De Persgroep Nederland acquired VNU Media, a Dutch publisher of magazines and online tools for professionals, especially in the recruiting and employment sectors. [7]

De Persgroep acquired Mecom Group in 2014, thereby adding Wegener, a big publisher of regional newspapers in the Netherlands, to its assets. [8] The acquisition also included Berlingske Media, a Danish media group particularly known for the Berlingske newspaper, one of the world's oldest, and the popular tabloid paper B.T. . De Persgroep sold Midtjyske Media, Berlingske Media's regional newspaper division, to Jutland Funen Media in 2015.

Further expansion in Belgium and full acquisition of Medialaan

In 2015, Sanoma's Belgian division sold four magazines ( Humo , Story, TeVe Blad and Vitaya magazine ) to De Persgroep. [9] Vitaya magazine was merged with another Persgroep title, Goed Gevoel, in February 2017. [10] De Persgroep further expanded its magazine holdings when it bought Cascade nv, publisher of the magazines Primo, Eos, Bahamontes, Motoren & Toerisme and For Girls Only, from Dutch media group Audax in 2018. [11] On 30 April 2019 the company closed two separate deals, whereby three of the former Cascade titles - Bahamontes, Motoren & Toerisme and For Girls Only - were acquired by a new company, De Deeluitgeverij, and a fourth, popular science title Eos, was sold to the new Eos Wetenschap vzw. [12]

In 2018 De Persgroep acquired Roularta's 50 percent stake in Medialaan. Roularta received a 50 percent stake in Mediafin and 217.5 million euros in cash. [13] This turned De Persgroep into the sole owner of Medialaan. The company merged Medialaan with its newspaper and magazine publishing holdings in Belgium. To represent this change, the company changed the name of its Belgian holdings to Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing. [14]

Assets

This is a list of the different media and other companies owned by De Persgroep.

TV channels

Former assets:

Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing used to own the following TV channels in Belgium:

Radio stations

Former assets:

Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing used to own the following radio station in Belgium:

Newspapers

Former assets:

De Persgroep also used to publish free city papers (now all defunct), called Zone 02/ in Brussels, Zone 03/ in Antwerp, and Zone 09/ in Ghent.

Magazines

Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing publishes the following magazines in Belgium:

Former assets:

Telecom

Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing owns two MVNOs in Belgium:

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Algemeen Dagblad</i> Dutch newspaper

The Algemeen Dagblad or AD is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

<i>De Tijd</i> newspaper

De Tijd is a Belgian newspaper that mainly focuses on business and economics. It is printed on salmon pink paper since May 2009, following the example of its colleagues Financial Times, Het Financieele Dagblad, FT Deutschland and many more.

Mecom Group plc is a newspaper publishing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

Mediafin is a Belgian media group. The company was established in 2005 when it was bought by De Persgroep and Rossel. Its name was switched from Publisher Tijd to Mediafin. De Persgroep and Rossel hold a fifty percent stake in Mediafin.

Mediahuis is a Belgian newspaper publishing and broadcast media company. It publishes De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen, Het Belang van Limburg, De Telegraaf, NRC Handelsblad, NRC Next, several Dutch regional newspapers, the job recruitment platform Jobat, the free magazine Jet and classified magazines/folders Gotcha, Zimmo, Vroom and InMemoriam.

Media in the Netherlands – television, radio, newspapers, magazines – are characterised by a tradition of politico-denominational segregation ("pillarisation") on the one hand and an increasing degree of commercialism on the other.

Christian Van Thillo is a Belgian businessman.

Lannoo publisher

Uitgeverij Lannoo Groep is a Belgian publishing group, based in Tielt, with assets in Belgium and the Netherlands. Its Belgian subsidiary is Uitgeverij Lannoo. Its Dutch subsidiary is LannooMeulenhoff. Over the years Lannoo evolved from Catholic and Flemish to an open, commercial publishing house.

Studio 100 Belgian production house

Studio 100 is a Belgian corporation that produces popular children's television series and owns 7 amusement parks and four musical ensembles.

Medialaan Belgian radio/TV/media company

Medialaan is a Belgian company, best known as parent company of the first Flemish commercial television station: VTM.

Discovery Channel is a television channel which broadcasts to the Flemish market.

Koninklijke Wegener NV was a Dutch publisher of newspapers. It was the largest publisher of daily regional newspapers, free local newspapers and special interest magazines in the Netherlands. It also sold internet products and graphical products. The company ceased to exist when it was acquired by Belgian media company De Persgroep in 2015.

The media in Belgium is characterized by its diversity due to the linguistic divide in the country.

Roularta Media Group is a publishing and broadcasting company based in Roeselare, Belgium.

Vitaya is a former women's magazine published in Belgium since 2001. The magazine was owned by De Persgroep. In February 2017, Vitaya was merged with another Persgroep title, Goed Gevoel.

References

  1. Hilde Van den Bulck; Sil Tambuyzer; Stef Ackx (2011). "Readers' Responses to Product+ Strategies of Print Media Brands: Increasing Readership or Commoditization of Print Media?". International Journal on Media Management. 13 (1): 71–85. doi:10.1080/14241277.2010.545362.
  2. Dendooven, Pascal. "ANALYSE. Waarom de Persgroep en Rossel l'Echo kopen". De Standaard. Mediahuis. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Over de Persgroep: Historie," De Persgroep Nederland. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  4. "De Persgroep neemt 32 procent van de aandelen in Het Parool". De Standaard. Mediahuis. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. "Nederlandse mediagroep PCM definitief in handen Britse Apax". Het Belang van Limburg. Mediahuis. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. (in Dutch) Wilco Dekker, "Persgroep geïnteresseerd in overname NRC," De Volkskrant (8 May 2014). Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  7. "De Persgroep Nederland koopt uitgever VNU Media". NRC. Mediahuis. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. Andy Sharman; Robert Cookson (30 June 2014). "Belgian publisher De Persgroep buys Mecom for £200m". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  9. Eeckhout, Bart. "De Persgroep mag Sanoma-magazines overnemen". De Morgen. De Persgroep. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  10. 1 2 Vitayamagazine.be https://abonnement.vitayamagazine.be/ . Retrieved 10 April 2019.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. "De Persgroep Publishing en Medialaan nemen uitgeverij van EOS over". HLN. De Persgroep. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Uitgeverij achter Primo en Eos ontmanteld". De Tijd (in Dutch). 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  13. "Roularta stapt uit Medialaan en in Mediafin". Knack.be. Roularta. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  14. "Medialaan en De Persgroep Publishing worden één bedrijf". Medialaan.be. Medialaan. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  15. "Parool, AVRO en RTV N-H nemen AT5 over". AD.nl. De Persgroep Nederland. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  16. "Concentra en De Persgroep herschikken belangen in ATV en Vacature". Nieuwsblad.be. Mediahuis. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  17. "Genieten (tijdschrift)". Wikipedia (nl). Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  18. Alan Hope (27 May 2015). "De Persgroep takes over Humo, Story and Vitaya magazines". Flanders Today. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  19. "Woef (tijdschrift)". Wikipedia (nl). Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  20. Debackere, Jan. "Medialaan koopt gsm-operator Mobile Vikings". De Morgen. Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing. Retrieved 10 April 2019.