Styria Media Group AG, 2. June 2009
Moser Holding AG and regional media of Styria Medien AG under one umbrella

Subject to the approval of the Austrian antitrust authority the entire Moser Holding AG with all its subsidiaries and investments and all regional activities of Styria Medien AG (in Styria and Carinthia) are going to be consolidated in a new corporate stock company under one governance. This was agreed on by the owners of Moser Holding AG and Styria Medien AG.

Styria Medien AG will hold about 68% of the shares of the new company, the Moser Family (via the Medienholding GmbH) about 27%. The remaining 5% will be owned by MIH Holding GmbH.
The regional activities of both media groups complement each other well. Moser Holding AG has its main focus on Tyrol and Upper-Austria, whereas the regional activities of Styria Medien AG concentrate on Styria and Carinthia. The national (Austria-wide) and international operations of Styria Medien AG are explicitly excluded from the joint venture.
The management-teams of those companies that are going to be integrated in the new holding (e.g. Kleine Zeitung, Regional Medien Austria AG, Antenne …) remain unchanged.

Ernst Buob, General Agent of the Moser Family: "This step is triggered by the global economic developments as well as the predicted future challenges for print-media.”

Horst Pirker, CEO of Styria Medien AG: "In order to form a credible counter balance to the dominance of Kronen Zeitung and Mediaprint, which is also questionable from a democratic perspective, a closer cooperation of the publishing companies in the different federal states has been discussed since several years. Subject to the approval of the antitrust authority a decisive step in this direction has now been taken.”

The implementation process will not be initiated until the approval of the Austrian antitrust authority.