Excerpt from the current kress pro column “From our circles” – order the booklet now:
What is going on behind the scenes at SWMH?
Sources that otherwise give insights into the secretive inner workings of Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH) are also currently being strangely covered.
What still gets through: There was quite a bit of trouble among the shareholders in the summer. A curious episode described by various sources in the SWMH environment: The publishers Florian Ebner (Südwest Presse) and Valdo Lehari jr. (Reutlinger General-Anzeiger Verlag) have clashed over a dispute in the advertising paper business. Both did not want to comment on the “kress” request and actually belong to the group of Württemberg publishers, which hold a finely balanced 47.54 percent stake in SWMH as a counterweight to Thomas Schaub’s Medien Union.
The argument between Ebner and Lehari cannot explain the nervousness among colleagues. Possibly, we would like to speculate at this point, behind the scenes it is about pacifying the complicated construct of the SWMH.
The group has economic potential if it really acts as a unit. From Ludwigshafen (“Rheinpfalz)” via Stuttgart (“Stuttgarter Zeitung”, “Stuttgarter Nachrichten”) to Ulm (“Südwest Presse”) and Munich (“Süddeutsche Zeitung”), it works in the economically strongest area of the country. So far, synergies have only been achieved in homeopathic doses. You can’t afford that in the future. When it comes to editing, marketing, printing and administration, the small things cost a lot of money that could be better put into the transformation.
Overall, SWMH has 46 shareholders, 31 of whom hold less than one percent. Almost all small shareholders have not seen any dividends for years because the debt from the purchase of SZ is still burdening the results. At the end of 2020, the Group reported net financial liabilities of EUR 163.2 million. Only a few shareholders have guaranteed distributions.
In other words: Many shareholders have held a stake for years that does not bring any money, but is losing value every year because of structural problems. That in turn could play into the hands of the big players like Schaub and Ebner if they want to secure a majority one day.
[…] In his current column, kress pro editor-in-chief also deals with these questions: Can the SZ really be financed solely from the reader market? How much did Springer have to pay to avoid the US trial? Why is Funke Mediengruppe leaving the BDZV? Read the current issue of kress pro now.
The cover topics in kress pro 10/2022:
Media Manager of the Year: Andreas Arntzen has increased the results of Wort & Bild Verlag and is making targeted investments in additional business and the digital sector. What he learned during the conversion of the traditional house.
Kress Awards 2022: Who has achieved extraordinary things this year.
“Creativity? Zero!”: How hard ex-RTL boss Helmut Thoma is with the industry and Bertelsmann in the court.
video marketing: How the “Spiegel” increases its revenues.
