Publisher NDC also preys on Mediahuis | Financial

An experienced mergers and acquisitions advisor who knows the sector well calls a takeover logical. “NDC was actually the last Dutch newspaper publisher that could still be taken over”, he describes the rapidly consolidated Dutch media sector, with the two Belgian publishers DPG (De Persgroep) and Mediahuis obtaining almost all Dutch newspaper publishers over the past twenty years.

Both Belgian publishers pursue a strategy of economies of scale and cost efficiency. Moreover, TMG, the then publisher of the Telegraaf, and NDC had already looked at a merger before, and are already working together on the delivery.

The last major takeover in the sector in our country was that of TMG, publisher of De Telegraaf, among others, by Mediahuis, which then focused on Luxembourg and Ireland, before visiting the NDC office in Leeuwarden. Mediahuis also publishes NRC.

NDC Mediagroep has been in bad shape financially for years. The group was saved from destruction in early 2013 by ING and private equity firm FB Oranjewoud and Je Maintiendrai, two idealistic Frisian shareholders. Since then, there has been significant reorganization at NDC, which generated revenues of € 116 million in 2018 and incurred a net loss of € 4.3 million. A new reorganization could only be carried out last year with the financial support of the shareholders.

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