Noerr advises publishers on joint venture with four press wholesalers to restructure press distribution in Germany

A Noerr team led by Volker Land and Till Steinvorth is advising Bauer Media Group, on behalf of an alliance of eleven publishing houses, on a major restructuring of press distribution in Germany.

Alongside Bauer Media Group, the alliance includes Axel Springer, BurdaVerlag GmbH, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FUNKE Mediengruppe, Gruner + Jahr, Martin Kelter Verlag, Mediengruppe Klambt, SPIEGEL-Verlag, Süddeutsche Zeitung and VF Verlagsgesellschaft. Together, these publishers plan to join forces with four press wholesalers to establish a joint venture called PGA Presse-Grosso-Allianz GmbH & Co. KG (“PGA”). The goal of PGA is to ensure long-term, sustainable, non-discriminatory, and comprehensive press distribution of magazines and newspapers across Germany.

To address the challenges of a rapidly changing media landscape and to secure an economically stable future of press distribution, PGA will implement centralised, standardised, and more efficient logistics and administrative procedures. PGA will carry out its tasks for the benefit of the entire press industry and will support the wider cause of press freedom.

The eleven publishers in the alliance plan to hold their stake in PGA through a holding company. This structure allows other press publishers to also acquire direct or indirect stakes in the joint venture.

The four press wholesalers involved are QTRADO, PVG, Trunk and 4PressG. Presseservice Nord, a fifth wholesaler, is also supporting the project. Together, these wholesalers currently supply more than half of the press retailers in Germany, both in terms of turnover and territory.

Advisors to the publishers: Noerr

Team lead: Volker Land (partner, Corporate/M&A), Till Steinvorth (partner, Antitrust & Competition, both Hamburg)

Corporate/M&A: Moritz Nikolaus Koch (partner), Juri Stremel (associated partner), Jan Hoffmann Linhard (associated partner), Vanessa Hoffmann Linhard (associated partner), Leonie Köster (associate, all Hamburg)

Antitrust & Competition: Jan-Hendrik Fitzl (senior associate), Carolin Sophie Schütte (associate, both Hamburg)

Corporate Litigation: Sarah Götze (associated partner, Hamburg)

Commercial: Felix Muhl (partner), Michaela Athmer (associated partner), Roni Deger (senior associate, all Hamburg), Hannah Thornton (associate, Berlin)

Digital: Torsten Kraul (partner), Pascal Schumacher (partner), Marvin Bartels (senior associate), Anna Shapiro (senior associate, all Berlin)

Employment & Pensions: Patrick Mückl (partner), Joshua Streuber (associate, both Düsseldorf)

Financial Services Regulation: Karl-Alexander Neumann (partner), Serkan Aslan (associate, both Hamburg)

Intellectual Property: Sebastian Wündisch (partner, Dresden)

Restructuring: Simone Schönen (partner), Stephanie Bender (associated partner, both Hamburg)

Tax: Andre Happel (partner), Eric Epler (senior associate), Thomas Renner (senior associate, all Frankfurt)