Bertelsmann Spins Off Its Arvato Printing Operations
GÜTERSLOH, GERMANY—Jan. 25, 2012—Bertelsmann is focusing its Arvato division on growth with an emphasis on the services businesses. To achieve this, the gravure printing operations and all of Arvato’s international printers are being grouped into a separate unit outside the Arvato division. The Bertelsmann AG supervisory board approved the executive board’s plans to this effect at a meeting in Gütersloh today.
The new printing unit will have revenues of €1.2 billion and will consist of the Prinovis Group and its sites in Germany and the U.K., along with Arvato’s printers in Italy, Spain and the United States. The Mohn Media group and GGP Pößneck will remain with Arvato, however, because they dovetail very closely with Arvato’s services businesses. The Arvato division is simplifying its structure to concentrate on its fast-growing services business and the development of new business fields.
Bertelsmann will manage these printing operations directly in a separate unit alongside its four corporate divisions—RTL Group, Random House, Gruner + Jahr and Arvato. This reorganization makes it possible to better manage and focus the businesses.
After Gruner + Jahr recently ceded its stake in Prinovis to Bertelsmann, the new grouping will result in a powerful printing unit. The new structure, which was jointly developed in close coordination between Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe and Arvato CEO Rolf Buch, will be implemented during the first half of this year. It will then be decided who will manage the new unit. The shareholding structure at Prinovis and Arvato’s international printing plants remains unchanged.
About Bertelsmann AG
Bertelsmann is an international media company whose core divisions encompass television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), and outsourcing services (Arvato) in 50 countries. In 2010, the company’s businesses, with their 100,000 employees, generated revenues of €15.8 billion. Bertelsmann stands for a distinctive combination of creativity and entrepreneurship that empowers the creation of first-rate media, communications, and service offerings to inspire people around the world and to provide innovative solutions for customers.
Source: Bertelsmann.
