It is the first time in Vietnam that a wedding website has launched a print magazine. Marry WEDDING is also the first wedding related magazine to include a guidebook of the top wedding related businesses in Vietnam’s largest city. “Marry.vn website has the largest directory of wedding businesses in Vietnam and we are proud to feature “The Best of Marry.vn” in Marry WEDDING magazine,” said Ringier Vietnam General Manager, Collin Crowell.

Marry WEDDING magazine is distributed throughout Ho Chi Minh City at newsstands, bookstores and other premium points of sale. Ringier Vietnam will launch additional Marry magazine titles as Marry HOME and Marrry BABY websites grow. Launched in March 2011, Marry Baby already has the largest directory of parenting businesses in Vietnam. The second Marry WEDDING magazine is scheduled for fall 2011.  To participate or learn more, please visit Marry.vn website.

The wide-ranging portfolio of the new joint venture will make it the undisputed region’s market leader in the segment of widely circulated tabloid dailies and one of the biggest magazine publishers as well.

As a result, the two companies will further extend their strong position substantially in these growth markets, with more than 100 print titles and more than 70 online offerings. Based in Zurich, the joint venture will be one of the biggest media company operating in Eastern Europe, with revenues on a pro forma 2009 basis of roughly EUR 414 million (CHF 601 million), an EBITDA of EUR 62 million (CHF 89 million) and about 4,800 employees. Furthermore, the shareholders intend to take the joint venture public in three to five years.

Mathias Döpfner, Management Board Chairman of Axel Springer AG: “The partnership provides an excellent basis for both companies to substantially expand their core business of journalism in attractive growth markets with five market-leading tabloid dailies, not to mention optimal conditions for the further expansion of the digital business, as the business of the future.”

Christian Unger, Management Board Chairman/CEO of Ringier AG: “As an independent company with a tradition going back 177 years, as well as strong brands and a values-driven culture, Ringier AG sees eye-to-eye with our new partner, as a company that makes an excellent fit with our company. Together, we will have such strong positions in individual markets that we will jointly take the new company public and therefore be in a position to help shape the future of the emerging media markets of Eastern Europe.”

The joint venture will be headed by Florian Fels, 42, current CEO Central Europe of Ringier AG. The Board of Directors will be chaired by Ralph Büchi, President Axel Springer International, and will be evenly composed of two representatives each from Ringier AG and Axel Springer AG.

Both Ringier and Axel Springer have continuously expanded their activities in the media markets of Eastern Europe in the last few decades; they now boast a considerable number of successful, leading titles in their respective segments, including widely-circulated tabloid dailies and magazines, in particular. Axel Springer’s and Ringier’s activities in Eastern Europe are complementary on a very high degree. Both companies complement each other very well in terms of subject-matter competence and also strategic interests. Together, they will seize the growth opportunities associated with the digital transformation, which will create additional development opportunities especially for the employees of Ringier and Axel Springer in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary. Slovakia, and Serbia, under the leadership of the same management team as before.

Source: Axel Springer.