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| DPG Media | |
| Formerly |
|
| Industry | Media |
| Headquarters | , Belgium |
Areas served |
|
Key people | Erik Roddenhof (CEO) |
| Products |
|
| Revenue | €1.766 billion (2020) |
| €178 million (2020) | |
Number of employees | 6,000 |
| Website | dpgmediagroup.com |
DPG Media Group is a Belgianmedia group. It is active in Belgium and the Netherlands. The exact ownership structure is not clear; it is believed that the group is mainly owned by the Belgian Van Thillo family.[1] The company employs about 6,000 people.
The DPG Media Group operates through two national subsidiaries:
In 1987 the Van Thillo family, already the publishers of magazinesJoepie (1973) andDag Allemaal (1984), obtained 66 percent of shares in theFlemish publishing company Hoste NV, publisher of newspaperHet Laatste Nieuws and magazineBlik. In 1990 the rest of the shares were acquired and the company's name was changed toDe 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 theVlaamse 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 (nowVTM 2).
In 1992, De Persgroep launchedGoed Gevoel, the group's first magazine.[2] In 1995, the first issue of showbiz magazine TV Familie appeared. In November 2001 at 6 am,Qmusic went live with the Deckers & Ornelis Ochtendshow.
In 2002, De Persgroep expanded tobook publishing and DVD distribution.[3]
In 2003, De Persgroep acquired ailing Amsterdam city newspaperHet Parool, entering the Dutch market.[2] 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.[2]
In 2005, De Persgroep acquired the Dutch radio stationRadio Noordzee and renamed itQmusic Nederland. That same year, De Persgroep joined forces with the Walloon media groupGroupe Rossel to acquire Editco, publisher of the French-language business paperL'Echo, distributed inBrussels andWallonia.[4] In 2005, the two groups also bought Uitgeverij De Tijd, publisher ofDe Tijd, the Flemish counterpart toL'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 byVVMa. In 2009 the station was renamedJoe. That same year, VMMa started telco brandJIM Mobile, together withKPN.[2]
In 1994, the Perscombinatie (publisher of theDe Volkskrant,Trouw andHet Parool) acquired a majority stake in Meulenhoff & Co. Perscombinatie Meulenhoff was rebranded PCM Publishing and publication of newspapers and books became its core activities.[5] In late 1995, PCM acquired the Nederlandse Dagbladunie (publisher ofTVNZ andAlgemeen Dagblad) and became publisher of four of the five national newspapers, four regional titles and door-to-door papers in theRandstad. PCM sold its stake inHet Parool to De Persgroep in 2002,[6] making it De Persgroep's first foreign investment.
PCM was acquired by British-based investment groupApax Partners in 2004.[7] In 2005,Algemeen Dagblad and four regional newspapers were housed in AD New Media BV with PCM holding a 63% interest in the venture.[5]
In July 2009, De Persgroep acquired a majority stake in PCM Publishing and renamed the subsidiary De Persgroep Nederland.[5] 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) toWegener. 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 soldNRC Handelsblad andnrc.next for 70 million euros to Egeria in 2009[8] and the PCM Algemene Boeken book-publishing unit (business object Meulenhoff & Co) to WPG Uitgevers andLannoo. As a result, De Persgroep Nederland remained the publisher of four national newspapers,Algemeen Dagblad,De Volkskrant,Trouw andHet Parool.[5]
In 2012, De Persgroep Nederland acquiredVNU Media, a Dutch publisher of magazines and online tools for professionals, especially in the recruiting and employment sectors.[9] In 2013, De Persgroep acquired the car websiteAutotrack from Wegener, consolidating its digital portfolio in the Netherlands.
In February 2014, what started out asVlaamse Televisie Maatschappij (VTM) in 1987, then becomingVlaamse Media Maatschappij (VMMa) in 1999, was renamedMedialaan (meaning 'media avenue'), reflecting the street inVilvoorde on which it is located.[10][2]
De Persgroep acquiredMecom Group in 2014, thereby adding Wegener, publisher of regional newspapers in the Netherlands, to its assets.[11] The acquisition also includedBerlingske Media a Danish media group particularly known for theBerlingske newspaper, one of the world's oldest, and the popular tabloid paperB.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 andVitaya magazine) to De Persgroep.[12]Vitaya magazine was merged with another Persgroep title,Goed Gevoel, in February 2017.[13] De Persgroep further expanded its magazine holdings when it bought Cascade, publisher of the magazinesPrimo,Eos,Bahamontes,Motoren & Toerisme andFor Girls Only, from Dutch media companyAudax Groep in 2018.[14] On 30 April 2019 the company closed two separate deals, whereby three of the former Cascade titles -Bahamontes,Motoren & Toerisme andFor Girls Only - were acquired by a new company, De Deeluitgeverij, and a fourth, popular science titleEos, was sold to the new Eos Wetenschapvzw.[15]
In 2016, De Persgroep carried out several acquisitions in the Netherlands, expanding its portfolio with websiteHardware.info, B2B marketing company Synpact, and online video platformMyChannels. In Belgium De Persgroep acquired financial comparison websiteSpaargids.be.[2] With virtual network operatorMobile Vikings [nl], an additional telecom brand was brought in. In 2017, De Persgroep acquiredReclamefolder.nl in the Netherlands. In 2018, De Persgroep bought magazinePrimo and price comparison websitesIndepender andMijnenergie.[2]
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 inMediafin and 217.5 million euros in cash.[16] 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.[17]
On 23 May 2019, Medialaan-De Persgroep Publishing changed its name toDPG Media.[18]
On the job and automotive markets, DPG Media joined forces withMediahuis. The online platformsAutoTrack.nl (DPG Media) andGaspedaal.nl (Mediahuis) became the joint ventureAutomotive MediaVentions. On the job market,Vacature.com (DPG Media) andJobat.be (Mediahuis) merged intoJobat, 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 companySanoma, gaining ownership of the magazinesLibelle and vtwonen and news platformNU.nl.[19] Sanoma's Belgian unit, that was already stripped down after selling many of its brands and businesses to both DPG Media andRoularta 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 theNetherlands 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[21]
On 1 June 2021, the sale of Mobile Vikings toProximus was approved by theBelgian Competition Authority [nl]. In February 2025, DPG let the Danish market upon sellingBerlingske Media to the Norwegian media groupAmedia.
In December 2022, it was announced that theRTL Group was considering selling its Dutch TV station RTL Nederland. After merger plans failed in 2023, it was officially announced in December that RTL Group was selling RTL Nederland for 1.1 billion euros to DPG Media. The acquisition was scheduled to be completed by mid-2024.[22]
DPG Media is active in the Netherlands and Belgium. The media company carries brands in television, radio, news, magazines, online services and telco.
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