Axel Springer sells its Russian activities
publisher Alexander Fedotov. A corresponding agreement was signed today.
The portfolio consists of the brands Forbes, Forbes.ru, Finanz.ru, OK!, GEO and Gala Biografa, amongst others. Axel Springer SE was active in Russia since 2004.
Ralph Büchi, President International of Axel Springer SE: “When we entered the Russian market, we believed in the further economic development and liberalisation of the country. We regret that we now have to leave because of the new media law which is restricting foreign ownership to 20 per cent. As publisher of the influential business magazine FORBES Russia, a limitation to a minority stake is not acceptable to us. Therefore we are happy having found a buyer who has the full acceptance of the editorial staff. I thank our CEO Regina von Flemming and our Russian team very much for their commitment and professional work in the last years. They all did an excellent job, even if the circumstances were sometimes difficult.”
Alexander Fedotov is the owner of Artcom Media and will consolidate the activities in a new company, in which Axel Springer will not hold any stake. Artcom Media is one of the fastest growing publishing houses in Russia. The company publishes fashion magazines, like Numero and Port, leading architecture and design magazines, like Interni and Objekt Russia. It also publishes L’Officiel magazine in Russia and Germany and the trend journal SNC. Web offerings, like trendspace.ru, sncmedia.ru and RussianDesignHub.ru, as well as publications about golf, like Golf Digest, are also part of the company.
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