Deals/M&A

PwC Legal advises NOZ Medien on acquisition of mh:n newspaper group

Frankfurt am Main, March 8th 2016.

PwC Legal advised Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung GmbH & Co. KG (NOZ Medien) on its acquisition of Medien Holding Nord GmbH (mh:n). The deal is still subject to approval under competition law.

PwC Legal performed legal due diligence for the Osnabrück-based media company and provided advice on purchase contract negotiations and structuring of the acquisition. Its lawyers worked in close cooperation with PwC Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, which carried out tax and financial due diligence, and advised on tax and finance issues.

NOZ Medien in Osnabrück has over 1,100 employees at ten sites. The Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper, with seven regional editions, is the core product of the media company. The Delmenhorster Kreisblatt was also acquired by NOZ Medien in 2015. The newspapers achieve a total daily circulation of around 175,000. This is complemented by digital offerings, free newspapers and services for advertising customers.

Medien Holding Nord GmbH (mh:n) has stakes in various media companies in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its companies Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (shz-Verlag) in Flensburg, A. Beig Verlag in Pinneberg and Zeitungsverlag Schwerin publish more than 30 daily newspapers in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, including the Flensburger Tageblatt and the Schweriner Volkszeitung. Total circulation is 285,000. This is complemented by over 40 free newspapers with a circulation of 3.4 million.

Advisors for Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung GmbH & Co. KG:

PwC Legal (Osnabrück, Düsseldorf):

Dr Ulf Braun (team lead), Dr Robert Manger, Dr Kai Sebastian Staak, Frederik Vogt (all Corporate/M&A)

PwC AG WPG:

Philipp Spyra (team lead, Transaction Services), Jari Sengera (Valuation & Strategy), Dieter Stegemann (Tax), Andreas Rams (Finance)

Advisors for Medien Holding Nord GmbH:

Hogan Lovells (Hamburg):

Dr Andreas H. Meyer (Corporate, Partner)

Cornelius + Krage (Kiel):

Dr Carsten Krage (team lead, Corporate law/M&A, Partner)

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