Germany: British investors incite row over newspaper purchase

Holtzbrinck formally bought the Berliner Verlag three years ago from publisher Gruner & Jahr. Besides the Berliner Zeitung the tabloid Berliner Kurier also belongs to the Berliner Verlag. However, German antitrust authorities did not approve the deal saying that Holtzbrinck, who ownes the newspaper Tagesspiegel in Berlin, would be market-dominating in the Berlin newspaper subscriber market. That is why Holtzbrinck is now looking for buyers for the Berliner Verlag.

On Monday, the Berliner Zeitung's editor-in-chief Uwe Vorköttner wrote an editorial in the newspaper urging Holtzbrinck not to sell to the investors. The media manager and chief of Mecom, David Montgomery, is especially feared. Also the Berliner Kurier ran several articles expressing its opposition to the deal. Vorköttner will campaign against Montgomery taking charge of the paper, reports Netzeitung.

Yesterday, employees of the Berliner Verlag, who fear for their jobs, made a protest march against the planned deal, reports Der Spiegel. Participants wore t-shirts saying "You're not welcome, Mr. Montgomery" and carried banners stating "We're not amused". Employees fear that the publisher will be broken up and the printing house alienated after the takeover.

However, Johannes von Bismarck, director for Veronis Suhler Stevenson in Germany, said in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the intention of the investors is not to break up the company but their strategy is rather "buy and build". He also said that the investors do not plan to change the concept of the two newspapers, Berliner Zeitung and Berliner Kurier, completely.

Sources: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German), Newsroom.de (in German), Forbes, Der Spiegel (in German), Netzeitung (in German)