De Ondernemer

DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people.

Divisions

The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries:

* DPG Media Belgium was founded on January 1, 2019, when Medialaan and de Persgroep Publishing merged into one organization. The company is active in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and online services.
* DPG Media Nederland is the largest media organization in the Netherlands. After the merger between Medialaan and de Persgroep Publishing into DPG Media Belgium, the Dutch branch Persgroep Nederland was renamed DPG Media Nederland. In 2020 the company took over the Dutch activities of Sanoma Media Netherlands. The company is also active in radio, newspapers, magazines, and online services in the Netherlands.
* The Danish media group Berlingske Media has been part of DPG Media Group since February 2015, after parent company Mecom was acquired. Berlingske Media has been active on the Danish market since 1749.

History

1987–2002: Formation in Flanders

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'' and magazine ''Blik''. 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''.

Also in 1987, De Persgroep was one of nine publishers involved in the foundation of the Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij (VTM), the first and 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. On 30 January 1995, Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij launched a second TV channel, Ka2 (now VTM 2).

In 1992, De Persgroep launched ''Goed Gevoel'', the group's first magazine. In 1995, the first issue of showbiz magazine TV Familie appeared. On November 2001 at 6 AM, ''Qmusic'' went live with the Deckers & Ornelis Ochtendshow.

In 2002, De Persgroep expanded to book publishing and DVD distribution.

2003–2013: Expansion into the Netherlands

In 2003, De Persgroep acquired ailing Amsterdam city newspaper ''Het Parool'', entering the Dutch market. In August 2003, '' HLN.be'' went online. In December 2004, the website, with 700,000 unique monthly visitors, was the most visited news site in Belgium.

In 2005, De Persgroep acquired the Dutch radio station ''Radio Noordzee'' and renamed it ''Qmusic Nederland''. That same year, De Persgroep joined forces with the Walloon media group Groupe Rossel to acquire Editco, publisher of the French-language business paper ''L'Echo'', distributed in Brussels and Wallonia. 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.

In 2007, radio station 4FM was acquired by '' VVMa''. In 2009 the station was renamed ''Joe''. That same year, VMMa started telco brand ''JIM Mobile'', together with KPN.

In 1994, the Perscombinatie (publisher of the ''De Volkskrant'', ''Trouw'' and ''Het Parool'') acquired a majority stake in Meulenhoff & Co. Perscombinatie Meulenhoff was rebranded PCM Publishing and publication of newspapers and books became its core activities."Over de Persgroep: Historie,"
De Persgroep Nederland. Retrieved 8 May 2014. In late 1995, PCM acquired the Nederlandse Dagbladunie (publisher of ''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, making it De Persgroep's first foreign investment.

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

In July 2009, De Persgroep acquired a majority stake in PCM Publishing and renamed the subsidiary De Persgroep Nederland. 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 Wilco Dekker
"Persgroep geïnteresseerd in overname NRC,"
''De Volkskrant'' (8 May 2014). Retrieved 8 May 2014. and the PCM Algemene Boeken book-publishing unit (business object Meulenhoff & Co) to WPG Uitgevers and Lannoo. As a result, De Persgroep Nederland remained the publisher of four national newspapers, ''Algemeen Dagblad'', ''De Volkskrant'', ''Trouw'' and ''Het Parool''.

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. In 2013, De Persgroep acquired the car website ''Autotrack'' from Wegener, consolidating its digital portfolio in the Netherlands.

2014–2018: Acquisitions of Mecom and Medialaan

In February 2014, ''Vlaamse Media Maatschappij (VMMa)'' was renamed Medialaan (meaning 'media avenue'), reflecting the street in Vilvoorde on which it is located.Farewell VMMa
at HLN.be. Retrieved 06/02/2014.

De Persgroep acquired Mecom Group in 2014, thereby adding Wegener, publisher of regional newspapers in the Netherlands, to its assets. 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.

In 2015, Sanoma's Belgian division sold four magazines (''Humo'', ''Story'', ''TeVe Blad'' and '' Vitaya magazine'') to De Persgroep. ''Vitaya magazine'' was merged with another Persgroep title, ''Goed Gevoel'', in February 2017. De Persgroep further expanded its magazine holdings when it bought Cascade, publisher of the magazines ''Primo'', ''Eos'', ''Bahamontes'', ''Motoren & Toerisme'' and ''For Girls Only'', from Dutch media company Audax Groep in 2018. 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.

In 2016, De Persgroep carried out several acquisitions in the Netherlands. Now part of its portfolio: website ''Hardware.info'', B2B marketing company Synpact, and online video platform ''MyChannels''. In Belgium De Persgroep acquired financial comparison website ''Spaargids.be''. With virtual network operator ''Mobile Vikings'', an additional telecom brand was brought in.

In 2017, De Persgroep bought Roularta's ownership stake in VTM parent company Medialaan and increased its interest to 100%. Roularta received a 50 percent stake in Mediafin and 217.5 million euros in cash. 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.

In 2017, De Persgroep acquired ''Reclamefolder.nl'' in the Netherlands. In 2018, De Persgroep bought magazine ''Primo'' and price comparison websites ''Independer'' and ''Mijnenergie''.

2019–2020: DPG Media and management changes

On 23 May 2019, Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing changed its name to DPG Media.

On the job and automotive markets, DPG Media joined forces with ''Mediahuis''. The online platforms ''AutoTrack.nl'' (DPG Media) and ''Gaspedaal.nl'' (Mediahuis) became the joint venture ''Automotive MediaVentions''. On the job market, ''Vacature.com'' (DPG Media) and ''Jobat.be'' (Mediahuis) merged into ''Jobat'', the new reference on the Belgian recruiting market.

In December 2019, DPG Media announced the acquisition of all Dutch assets of Finnish media and publishing company Sanoma, gaining ownership of the magazines Libelle and vtwonen and news platform NU.nl. Sanoma's Belgian unit, that was already stripped down after selling many of its brands and businesses to both DPG Media and Roularta in previous years and consequently having become a publisher of home and deco magazines exclusively, was also included in the deal. The transaction was approved on 10 April 2020 by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and became effective on 20 April.

On 1 March 2020, Christian Van Thillo stepped down as CEO of the company, a role he had taken up for 30 years. His successor was Erik Roddenhof, who previously managed the company's Belgian and Dutch businesses. Roddenhof will continue to run the Dutch division, on top of his duties as the new CEO of the entire group. Kris Vervaet and Anders Krab-Johansen remained CEOs of respectively the Belgian and Danish divisions. Van Thillo became the company's board's executive chairman and in that capacity spearheads the group's strategy, acquisition policy, and the development of the group's media brands.

On 1 June 2021, the acquisition of Mobile Vikings to Proximus was approved by the Belgian Competition Authority.

Brands

DPG Media is active in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. The media company carries brands in television, radio, news, magazines, online services and telco.

Berlingske Media

News

* Berlingske
* B.T.
* Weekendavisen

Online Services

* Euroinvestor

DPG Media Belgium

Television

''Dutch''
* VTM
*VTM 2
*VTM 3
* VTM 4
*VTM Gold

''French''
* RTL TVI (50%)
* Club RTL (50%)
* Plug RTL (50%)

Radio

''Dutch''
* Q-music
* Joe
* Willy

''French''
* Bel RTL (50%)
* Mint (50%)
* Radio Contact (50%)

News

''Dutch''
*'' 7SUR7''
*''Het Laatste Nieuws'', daily
* ''De Morgen'', daily
* Vacature.com, job vacancies paper, weekly
*VTM Nieuws

''French''
* RTL Info (50%)

Magazines

*''Dag Allemaal''
*''DM Magazine''
*'' Goed Gevoel''
* ''Humo''
*''Nina''
* ''Primo''
* ''Story''
* '' TeVe Blad''
*'' TV-Familie''

Online services

* ''Jobat''
* ''Livios''
* ''Mijn energie''
* ''Spaargids.be''
* ''Tweakers''
* ''Vacature.com'' (discontinued)

Video on demand

''Dutch''
* '' Streamz'' (with Telenet)
* ''VTM GO''

''French''
* RTL Play (50%)

DPG Media Netherlands

Radio

* Joe
* Qmusic

News

= National

=
* Algemeen Dagblad
* De Ondernemer
* de Volkskrant
* Nu.nl
* Sportnieuws.nl
* Trouw
* Topics

= Regional

=
* Brabants Dagblad
* BN De Stem
* De Gelderlander
* De Stentor
* De Twentsche Courant Tubantia
* Het Parool
* Eindhovens Dagblad
* Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant

Magazines

* Ariadne at Home
* AutoWeek
* AutoWeek GTO
* Bladcadeau
* Donald Duck
* Eigen Huis & Interieur
* Fashionchick
* Fashionchick Girls
* Flair
* Flow
* Kek MAMA
* Libelle
* Margriet
* Nouveau
* Ouders van nu
* Stijlvol Wonen
* Story
* Tina
* Totaal TV
* Veronica Superguide
* VIVA
* VIVA mama
* vtverbouwen
* vtwonen
* Wonen Landelijke Stijl
* Zo Zit Dat

Online services

* Tweakers

See also

* Christian Van Thillo

References

{{reflist

External links

DPG MediaDPG Media BelgiëDPG Media NederlandBerlingske Media

Mass media companies of Belgium
Companies based in Flemish Brabant
Mass media companies established in 1987
1987 establishments in Belgium
2015 mergers and acquisitions
2019 mergers and acquisitions
2020 mergers and acquisitions