Ringier acquires Gazeta Sporturilor, the № 1 sports brand in Romania, including GSP.ro

The joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian Sportal Media Group, Ringier Sportal S.R.L., has entered into an agreement with Intact Media Group to acquire the leading Romanian sports brand Gazeta Sporturilor. Through this acquisition Ringier Romania´s will become the unprecedented leader in digital media in the country. 

RINGIER SPORTAL S.R.L., the joint venture of Ringier Romania and the Bulgarian Sportal Media Group, has agreed to acquire the leading Romanian sports brand Gazeta Sporturilor.

The acquisition agreement contains both, the digital platform GSP.ro and the print edition of Gazeta. GSP.ro is the number one among all sports portals in the Romanian top 10 digital publishing websites and leader in digital sports news with more than 3.5 million unique views per month. The Gazeta print edition has a sale of about 20’000 copies per day.

 «The acquisition of Gazeta is an essential milestone for us as a digital media company with a strong journalistic DNA. Gazeta Sporturilor will be another strong offering for our readers. The major strength of the Gazeta brand is the very high quality of its editorial content produced by the most respected Sports editorial team in the country, led by one of the country’s leading investigative journalists Catalin Tolontan. After nearly two decades, I am very happy to welcome the Gazeta team again at Ringier Romania», says Mihnea Vasiliu, Managing Director of Ringier Romania. «Together with the Sportal Media Group Bulgaria we form an ideal constellation out of know-how and potential. All three are eager to build something big with a high-quality and innovative character for the Romanian sports enthusiast.»

 

«Gazeta is famous for offering the most relevant editorial Sports content in Romania. I am very much looking forward to support the brand with the expertise of our IT and development teams. Together with Ringier Romania we will invest in the technological infrastructure of GSP.ro to boost the high-quality content over the platform. At the same time, we will offer smart advertising solutions to be attractive for sport and betting fans in Romania but also for relevant international advertising customers», says Stilian Shishkov, CEO of the Sportal Media Group and responsible for the leading Bulgarian Sport platform Sportal.bg.

 

«I am grateful that we have earned the loyalty of a significant sport audience and we have managed to create a powerful brand – Gazeta Sporturilor. At this point, as our strategy is to focus on our core broadcasting, radio and digital business, we concluded that Ringier is the best place to maintain GSP’s quality, to develop it to the next level, and to integrate its team. I am happy with this agreement that will benefit all parties and I wish everybody the best of luck», explains Camelia Voiculescu, President of Intact Media Group.

RINGIERS SPORTAL´s acquisition of the print edition and digital platform of Gazeta Sporturilor is expected to be executed by September 2018. Currently it is subject to merger control approval by the competent authorities.

 «We will ensure that GSP.ro continues to expand its leading position as the number 1 Sports Portal in Romania», says Robin Lingg, Member of the Group Executive Board Ringier AG. «We will utilize the great synergies resulting from our joint venture. The combination of Ringier´s publishing assets, Sportal Media Group`s digital expertise and Gazeta´s high-quality Sports content will set trail-blazing standards.»

Ringier AG, Corporate Communications