Mediengruppe Bayern buys Mediengruppe Oberfranken: A new media giant!

Mediengruppe Bayern buys Mediengruppe Oberfranken: A new media giant!

Big news from the media landscape: The Bavaria Media Group (MGB) has announced that it plans to take over the Oberfranken media group (MGO). This announcement was made on Tuesday evening and could have far-reaching consequences for the regional media market.

The deal, which still requires approval from the Federal Cartel Office, includes solid titles such as the “Fränkischer Tag”, the “Bayerische Rundschau”, the “Coburger Tageblatt”, the “Saale-Zeitung” and the online portal “infranken.de”. In addition, the MGB has also signaled interest in MGO's specialist magazines and printing business.

A strategic step

With this step, the Bayern media group is continuing its growth path, which began in 2017 with the takeover of the “Passauer Neue Presse”. In the following years, the “Donaukurier” from Ingolstadt and the “Mittelbayerische Zeitung” from Regensburg were taken over. In the future, MGB could publish an impressive circulation of around 350,000 copies per day, making it the largest Bavarian regional newspaper publisher.

The managing director of Mediengruppe Bayern, Simone Tucci-Diekmann, sees the takeover as an important step into the future of MGB. She emphasizes the challenges that digitalization and change in the media market bring with it. The chairman of the MGO, Albrecht Tintelnot, sees the sale as the best path for local media under the circumstances.

Market development and competition

The acquisition also highlights an ongoing trend in the regional newspaper market, which has already seen two major acquisitions this year: in May, Medienholding Süd was acquired by Neue Pressegesellschaft Ulm, and in September Madsack announced the purchase of Nordwest Mediengruppe.

This dynamic is reflected in the monthly reach of the online offerings, which now records around 42 million visits. This clearly shows how high the interest in regional content and the importance of digital platforms is today. It remains to be seen how these developments will affect the media landscape as a whole.

The takeover is not only a financially strong merger, but also a signal for securing the future of the media. Despite the difficult conditions that often accompany local media, the companies involved can face new challenges with good courage and find their way into the digital age.

The purchase price of the agreement remains under wraps, but the next few weeks and months will be crucial to see how this deal will impact regional news coverage.