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.

This launch (there have been 15 since 2000) of ELLE brings to 43 the total number of editions worldwide, and to 10 the number of editions in Asia.

Ringier Vietnam, supported by its local partner, the Hanoi Women Entrepreneurs’ Association, is pleased to announce the launch of ELLE in Vietnam on 21 October 2010 within the framework of a license agreement with Lagardere Active. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha is the Editor-in-Chief. Mrs. Huong Color has been appointed Managing Editor. The first edition of Phai Dep-ELLE will be published on October 21. CHANEL, ESTEE LAUDER, HERMES, LOUIS VUITTON and ROLEX are only some of the leading international brands advertising in the first edition.

Thomas Trüb, General Manager of Ringier Pacific, says: “Vietnam is the fastest growing market in Asia, and its women consumers are leading the way. ELLE will become a key partner in bringing the latest in international fashion trends to Vietnam, identifying and promoting the country’s talented young designers, and contributing to the increasing sophistication of women magazines in Vietnam.”

According to Jean de Boisdeffre, CEO International Magazines at Lagardère Active, “The underlying concept and strengths of ELLE will allow women in Vietnam to evolve, as they have in the 42 other countries where the magazine is already published, by providing a unique opening to the world. We are very happy with this collaboration with Ringier Vietnam, a solid and trustworthy partner with an established knowhow and experience in magazine publishing. This 43rd edition of ELLE will benefit from the support that our world leading network is capable to generate, for bringing this new ELLE edition the success it deserves“.

Each month, ELLE has 21 million readers worldwide and a monthly worldwide circulation of 6.4 million copies. The strength of the ELLE network (99’000 editorial pages and 51,500 advertising pages per year), makes ELLE the worldwide leader in the publication of upscale women’s magazines, with a 29% share of the advertising market.

At the end of August 2010, ELLE has 28 websites worldwide, with 17 million unique visitors and 178 million page views.

- Ringier Group Communications

Press Contacts:
Phai Dep-ELLE: Ms. Thu Ha – +84 91 320 7860 - thuha@elle.vn
Ringier AG: Matthias Graf – +41 44 259 64 48 - media@ringier.com

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About Ringier AG
Present in Vietnam since 1992, Ringier is the founding partner of the women’s weekly magazine Thoi Trang Tre and the cooking magazine Bep Gia Dinh, and operates Muaban Nhadat, a leading online real estate classifieds site and magazine. Ringier AG is a multinational media company with around 7500 employees in 10 countries in Asia and in Central and Eastern Europe. Worldwide, Ringier publishes more than 120 newspapers and magazines and markets more than 20 TV programmes.

The company also holds considerable stakes in television and radio stations and operates about 80 websites and mobile platforms. It has eleven printing plants. Ringier is a fifth-generation family company, founded in 1833.

About Lagardère Active
Lagardère Active is one of Lagardère SCA’s four corporate brands, which include Lagardère Publishing (books), Lagardère Services (press distribution and services) and Lagardère Unlimited (marketing and management of sports broadcast rights).

Lagardère Active is active in press magazine, radio, special-interest TV channels, TV production, digital media and ad media buying.

The company operates in 45 countries and is a world leader in quality magazine publishing, with over 200 magazine titles, published either by Lagardère Active companies, JV or licensing partners. Our main magazines brands include the leading women upscale magazine, ELLE and its 43 international editions, and also international brands such as Psychologies, Red, Elle Deco, Met Home, Riders, Car & Driver…
In 2009, Lagardère Active’s revenues amount to 1,72 billion euros (46% abroad).

Ringier Vietnam will be the exclusive advertising and marketing partner for the women’s style and fashion magazine, ELLE, in Vietnam. Ringier Vietnam will work closely with the Lagardere Group of France, who own the ELLE brand, and ELLE’s Vietnamese publisher, Phai Dep – ELLE, to market and launch the women’s luxury style and fashion magazine in Vietnam in 2010.

ELLE was first published in 1945 in France and is now the world’s largest fashion magazine. It publishes 42 editions world wide and has a combined circulation of 6,400,000 copies and 21,000,000 readers each month.

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.