Sales 2022: € 2.200 billion

Overview

The Hamburg-based Bauer Media Group is one of the most important players in the German magazine market and is among the 100 largest family-owned businesses in Germany. The youth magazine "Bravo," TV guides such as "TV-Movie" and "tv14," and newspapers such as "Auf einen Blick" and "Neue Post" are important pillars of the company's domestic business. However, the company now generates more than half of its revenue abroad.

An updated, complete company profile will be published shortly. 

General Information

Headquarters
Burchardstraße 11
20077 Hamburg
Germany
Telephone 0049 40 3019-0
Internet: www.bauermedia.com

Branches of trade: Print media, electronic media
Legal form: KG
Financial year: 01.01. -31.12.
Founding year: 1875 as JAL Bauer, 1962 conversion into a limited partnership

Basic economic data

	2023	2022	2021	2020
Revenue (in million €)	n/a	2.200	2.200	2.076,5
Employees	n/a	11.500	11.500	13.226

*The Bauer Media Group publishes its sales figures at the end of each year for the previous year.

management

• Yvonne Bauer, Management
• Jörg Hausendorf, Management
• Harald Jessen, Management
• Witold Wozniak, Management

Management: Heinz Heinrich Bauer, Yvonne Bauer

History and Profile

In 1875, Johann Andreas Ludolph Bauer (1852–1941) founded a small lithography and stone printing business named after him on Billhorner Röhrendamm in Hamburg. The company, temporarily renamed Bauer & Baltzer, began printing the Rothenburgsorter Zeitung, a free advertising paper, in 1897. A few years later, the founder's son, Heinrich Bauer, took over the printing business. The family business moved its headquarters to Burchardstraße in 1923 and began publishing the magazine "Rundfunkkritik" in 1926. With the growing importance of the new medium of radio, circulation also increased. "Rundfunkkritik" became the "Funk-Wacht." After the end of the war, Alfred Bauer took over management from his father Heinrich. Since Bauer was unable to obtain a press license from the British administration in the post-war period, he could not resume publishing magazines until after the founding of the Federal Republic. In the 1960s, the publishing house expanded – less through the introduction of its own titles than through the acquisition of other publishers. In 1961, the Kurt Müller publishing house in Düsseldorf was acquired, followed by the Vienna-based Lachner publishing house in 1963. In the same year, Heinz Heinrich Bauer took over as managing director. With the acquisition of titles such as "Hören und Sehen," "Quick," and "Bravo," the company grew rapidly and began to expand abroad. In 1980, "Woman's World," the first Bauer magazine, was launched in the USA. Subsidiaries were founded in France, Great Britain, and Spain in the 1980s. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Bauer, like many other German publishers, seized the opportunity to expand into Central and Eastern Europe. Poland became an important market in which the Hamburg publishing group played a major role. Today, the publishing group operates in 15 countries.

But setbacks were also to be accepted. In the early 1990s, the magazine "Quick" was discontinued. The project to compete with the Hamburg news magazine "Der Spiegel" with its own news magazine, Ergo, also ultimately failed. Furthermore, the planned expansion of Bauer's involvement in the daily newspaper market stalled. Although Bauer was interested when the sale of the Berlin daily "Der Tagesspiegel" was up for discussion – a renowned capital newspaper was intended to polish the staid image of the Fernsehwoche publishing house – the deal fell through due to Holtzbrinck publishing, and Bauer continued to own only the "Magdeburger Volksstimme." Furthermore, in 2002, Bauer, like probably every powerful German media company, was discussed as a potential buyer of Sat.1 and ProSieben from the Kirch bankruptcy estate. However, the signing of the contracts, which were already ready for signature, failed because of a disagreement over the status of Kirch's film rights library.

As a result, Bauer has remained more or less loyal to its core business, magazines, over the decades. A stake in Sat.1, for which several formats were produced in the 1980s, is shelved. In the electronic media sector, the investments in Radio Hamburg and RTL II currently contribute to the group's earnings.

In 2006, Bauer acquired shares in the Polish radio company Broker FM, which, along with RMF, operates the most-listened-to Polish station (around 22 million listeners per week) and is now wholly owned by the publishing group. In February 2008, the takeover of the British media company Emap was also completed. According to Emap, Bauer paid the equivalent of around €1.6 billion for the company's divisions – just under €1 billion for the magazine division and just under €600 million for the radio stations. The magazines now owned by Bauer in Great Britain include titles such as "Yours," "FHM," "Grazia," and "Closer." The 38 radio stations cover most of Great Britain. In 2007, Emap generated revenues of €700 million from its magazines and radio stations and an operating profit of €140 million. Bauer is now the second-largest commercial radio operator and the largest magazine publisher in Great Britain.

management

"Yvonne Bauer is the new publisher" – these were the headlines in December 2010. The publishing house had previously announced that Heinz Heinrich Bauer's second-youngest daughter would now lead the group. To this end, 85 percent of the limited partnership shares in the family business were transferred to the 33-year-old with immediate effect. However, the now 71-year-old company patriarch, Heinz Heinrich Bauer, announced, according to media reports, that he would continue to accompany his daughter as a "co-pilot" in the future. He would remain the personally liable partner.

The generational change had been looming for some time. "My father designated me to inherit a large part of the publishing house. The principle worked well because I was able to make quick decisions and take high risks. I would like to do the same," the publisher, who is considered to be press-shy, said in June 2009 in Mirror-Interview. In the same year, the course was set accordingly. Heinz Heinrich Bauer brought his daughter Yvonne, born in 1977, into the company's management and made her head of key publishing divisions. To this end, the complex media group was fundamentally restructured. For the "cool crown princess," this solution was a kind of intermediate step on the way to a complete takeover of power, commented The world in January 2010.

The final step has now been taken. The publishing house will remain in family hands for the fifth generation. Yvonne Bauer's three sisters – Mirja, Nicola, and Saskia – each hold a five percent stake in Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG as limited partners and will continue to work at the publishing house: Mirja Bauer is the editor of the fashion and celebrity newsletter Life & StyleShe is married to Bauer Online manager Sven-Olof Reimers. Nicola Bauer is editor-in-chief of the magazine Life & Style and serves as editor of People magazine InTouchSaskia Bauer, the youngest daughter of Heinz Heinrich Bauer, is her father's assistant.

Business segments

Magazines:
Bauer is the publisher with the largest reach in Germany. The women's, youth, and TV guides segments occupy a prominent position in the publishing group's core business. Many associate Bauer Verlag primarily with publications like "Revue" and "Neue Post," which feature celebrity offspring, aristocratic weddings, and summer recipes on poor-quality paper. Low copy prices enable high circulation figures to be achieved. Behind the remarkable, ongoing success of some magazines lies a strategy that relies on tried-and-tested methods. Innovation occurs more through prudent redesign of the titles than through the launch of new projects. The company strives to position successful brands in other countries as well.

One example is the launch of "InTouch" on the German market, a title that is extremely successful in the US. "InTouch" is intended to compete with the market leaders in the segment, "Bunte" (Burda) and "Gala" (Gruner and Jahr). And "InTouch" is, after all, the expression of a realignment of the image: less "Praline" (now discontinued), more glossy and lifestyle.

Spin-offs are another pillar of the company's strategy. For example, the "Bravo" brand, whose recognition can hardly be overestimated, has been consistently expanded. There are now "Bravo Girl!", "Bravo Sport," and "Bravo Screenfun."

Bauer is the market leader in Germany for TV guides. The highest-circulation titles are "tv14," with nearly 2.5 million copies sold, and "TV Movie," with nearly 1.4 million copies sold (IVW 4/2011).

Daily newspaper:
Only one daily newspaper belongs to the Bauer empire – the "Volksstimme" (People's Voice), published in Magdeburg. The print circulation of the "Volksstimme," which is published in 18 local editions in northern Saxony-Anhalt, is 198,975 copies (IVW, 4/2012). At the beginning of 2013, the "Volksstimme" made negative headlines by dismantling its editorial department and subsequently splitting it into three small limited liability companies. Critics see no justification for this measure given the continued positive business results and particularly lament the dismantling of the works council.

Radio and television:
Bauer's involvement in electronic media has been significantly stronger than in the past since the acquisition of the British company Emap in early 2008. The company is the second-largest radio broadcaster in Great Britain. The publishing group holds a 31.5 percent stake in the Grünwald-based private broadcaster RTL II (other shareholders of RTL II are: RTL Group SA (Bertelsmann) 35.91%, Tele München Fernsehen GmbH & Co. Medienbeteiligung KG 31.51%, Burda GmbH 1.11%). In addition, there is a 25% stake in Radio Hamburg (other holdings in Radio Hamburg GmbH & Co. KG: UFA (Bertelsmann) 29.21%, Axel Springer AG 25%, etc.). The consumer magazine division of the former Emap was transferred to Bauer Consumer Media, and the radio division to Bauer Radio. Bauer also owns the Polish radio group Broker FM. In the UK, Bauer also operates seven digital music stations.

Publishing and distribution:
Pabel-Moewig Verlag ("Perry Rhodan," "Bussi Bär," etc.) and VU Verlagsunion KG are wholly owned subsidiaries of Bauer. The distribution subsidiary was recently criticized for months for taking over distribution of the controversial news magazine "Zuerst!", which, according to the Hamburg Alliance Against the Right, "brings racism, historical revisionism, and anti-Semitism to the kiosks." The case caused quite a stir, with employees also protesting. In spring 2012, it was announced that the magazine was looking for a new distribution partner. In summer 2013, criticism of Pabel-Moewig Verlag flared up again: the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the US Anti-Defamation League called on Bauer management to immediately stop publishing "Landser." to set, as the title would glorify the activities of the Waffen-SS. In Great Britain, Demands on the regulator Ofcom loudly, Bauer would have his broadcasting license for his British radio stations revoked as long as the publisher persisted with "Der Landser." In September 2013, Bauer relented and "Der Landser" was finally set.

Digital and online
Bauer Digital KG is responsible for the further expansion of the digital segment. The publishing group's strong brands, such as "Bravo" and "TV Movie," have been present online for some time. Furthermore, the company has successfully established two additional sites that also bundle the content of its print products: Wunderweib.de and Lecker.de. The company is represented in the British market with approximately 70 websites covering a wide range of lifestyle topics. Mobile availability of its products as apps is also becoming increasingly important in its corporate strategy. Interia.pl is the third-largest general interest portal in the Polish media market. The publishing group also holds a 75 percent stake in bookandsmile GmbH, operator of the online service billigflieger.de.

engagement abroad

Foreign markets – especially Great Britain and Eastern Europe – are becoming increasingly important for the Bauer Media Group. In 2009, the company generated more revenue abroad than in Germany for the first time. Key markets at a glance:

• Great Britain: 80 magazine titles (including “Grazia”, “FHM”, “MATCH!”), 43 radio stations in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as 7 digital music television channels
• USA: 11 magazine titles, including “FIRST,” “InTouch,” and “Woman's World”
• Spain: 10 titles, including “Autodefinidos”, “Bravo”, “InTouch”
• France: 6 tracks, “GIRL”, “MAXI”, “MAXI Cuisine”, “Les Jeux de Maxi”
• Poland: 46 titles and participation in the radio group Broker FM, including “Auto Moto”, “Bravo”, “Tina”
• Romania: 4 titles, including “Bravo”, “BravoGirl”
• Hungary: 8 titles, including “Tina”, “Bravo”
• Czech Republic: 18 titles, including: “Tina”, “Bravo”, “Zena a zivot”
• Slovakia: 4 titles, including “Euroteleviza”
• Russia: 40 titles, including “Bravo”, “777”, “Fity-Fifty”
• Australia/New Zealand: various magazine titles (“ACP Magazines” publishing house); talks are underway for a takeover of the popular titles of “APN News and Media”

Current developments

Digital offensive: Under the supervision of Yvonne Bauer, the company has now a respectable user base of worldwide 130 million. unique users The reason for this is the tablet and online versions of the farmer titles as well as portals such as LifeandStylemag.com, intouchweekly.com and j-14.com, which are particularly successful in the USA.

Expansion Down Under: Yvonne Bauer said in an interview in spring 2012 that she observes the magazine markets abroad very closely. That she not only observes, but also uses opportunities for expansion, was demonstrated by the publisher in September 2012, when the Bauer Media Group announced that it had acquired Australia's leading magazine publisher ACP Magazines Until now, ACP belonged to the Australian media company Nine Entertainment, which in turn is owned by the financial investor CVC Capital Partners and, according to media reports, is heavily indebted. For Yvonne Bauer, the acquisition is part of her media company's "global growth strategy," as she said at the announcement of the deal. In November 2015, it was also announced that Bauer was interested. to take over Illyria InvestmentsThe holding company of Rupert Murdoch's son Lachlan controls, among other things, the Australian radio chain Nova Entertainment.

Cosmopolitan: In spring 2012, the Bauer Media Group took over three magazines in Germany from the Munich publisher Jürg Marquard, including the German edition of the traditional women’s magazine CosmopolitanWith this magazine, Bauer Verlag hopes to attract advertisers from the luxury segment who have not previously found an adequate advertising environment in the publisher's other publications. The Bauer Media Group called the deal an expansion of its "premium portfolio"; the Süddeutsche Zeitung quipped that it seemed "as if Pinneberg and Paris were about to become twin cities."

Dispute over press wholesale: In Germany, Bauer has been in dispute since 2009 with the existing grosso system, which ensures that newspapers and magazines are delivered to kiosks. Bauer Publishing feels disadvantaged by the existing grosso system because Bauer has very strong sales of magazines on the market, but sees its position threatened by the rise of ever new, low-cost titles. Press-Grosso places all titles – regardless of circulation and publishing power – on kiosks just like Bauer magazines. In February 2014, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court upheld a Cologne Regional Court ruling that the "central negotiating mandate" of the Grosso Association is unlawful. Thanks to the Bauer lawsuit, the grosso system is facing legal action. upheaval.