The KLAMBT media group becomes an additional shareholder of MZV.
Burda and Funke are opening up their sales subsidiary MZV Moderner Zeitschriften Vertrieb to a third publishing shareholder: The two media companies announced today, Monday, 9 August 2021, that they intend to sell equal shares to the KLAMBT media group, which means that KLAMBT - subject to the approval of the Cartel Office - will hold 31.67 percent of Germany's leading sales organization for press products from 1 January 2022, just like Burda and Funke.
Funke Mediengruppe and Hubert Burda Media had already forged their distribution alliance in 2010, back then with Michael Imhoff, the founder of MZV.Funke, Burda and KLAMBT have decided on this new strategic alliance in order to secure magazine distribution as the economic foundation of the publishing industry. "This merger is a sign of new thinking in our industry," explains Burda CEO Philipp Welte, "because we have decided to work together to stabilize distribution as our lifeline."
"Today we are sending a clear signal of cooperation to the industry," says Bianca Pohlmann, member of the Executive Board of Funke Mediengruppe, "together we will ensure that our products continue to find their way to our readers in the future." Lars Joachim Rose, publisher of Mediengruppe KLAMBT, explains: "Through our participation in MZV, we can actively shape press distribution in Germany in the long term and together ensure that our magazines will continue to be present where people in Germany shop every day."
The KLAMBT media group publishes over 65 magazines, primarily in the women's, TV, people and puzzle market segments. The company currently has a market share of 3.5 percent in the distribution market.