A bigger player is being created in the newsprint sector Germany with more publishing companies joining a purchasing cooperative with Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH), Freie Presse and Die Rheinpfalz.
Two years ago, the three German publishing companies Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH), Freie Presse and Die Rheinpfalz have founded a purchasing organisation in Germany to leverage their purchasing power. Now, the cooperative is set to combine its paper buying activities with those of the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) to create a new organisation called EKG-Einkaufsgesellschaft für Verlage GmbH (EKG).
Furthermore, Druckzentrum Rhein Main, a printing company joint venture between the Rhein Main publishing group and Echo Medien GmbH, will also become a partner of the new purchasing group. According to the EKG group’s concept, other partners may possibly join in the medium term.
EKG was a response to the changing market conditions and the increasing dynamic nature of the markets, the publishing companies involved said. They believe that the EKG cooperative and the associated expansion and bundling of competencies would allow them to achieve a stronger market presence, optimise their logistics operations and increase efficiency.
The establishment of the new purchasing group is still subject to approval by German authorities. Once approved and completed, EKG is said to become one of the biggest newsprint buyers in Europe.
