Corporate

Tamedia completes acquisition of Doodle and shifts gears for further investment

Zurich, 13 November 2014 –  Swiss media group Tamedia has increased its share in Doodle to 100 per cent and intends to keep investing in the scheduling platform. The founders Michael Näf and Paul E. Sevinç as well as the Innovation Foundation of the Canton Bank of Schwyz as minority shareholders have relinquished their 51 per cent share as already agreed upon in 2011. Following the successful transfer of operational management to Michael Brecht in February 2014, Michael Näf and Paul E. Sevinç are now leaving the Board of Directors of Doodle AG with the sale of their shares. 

 

The scheduling platform under the direction of the new CEO Michael Brecht has invested further in internationalisation over the past months. This strategy has been rewarded with substantial sales increases. Today, more than 20 million people use Doodle worldwide every month. The scheduling platform, which is available in 17 languages, plans opening an office in Berlin in 2015, from where 10 employees are to support international growth.

 

The parties agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.

Additional information:

Christoph Zimmer, Head of Corporate Communications at Tamedia;

phone +41 44 248 41 35; e-mail [email protected]

 

About Doodle

Doodle radically simplifies the process of scheduling events. With the leading online scheduler doodle.com, Zurich-based Doodle AG provides enormous time-savings around the globe. The free service is available in 17 languages and financed by high-quality online campaigns. Premium subscriptions with additional features supplement the Doodle offer. Doodle is used for business and private purposes by 20 million people throughout the world every month, regardless of whether on mobile devices or on a desktop, with paper calendars or electronic planners. In 2011, Swiss media group Tamedia had already acquired a 49 percent share of the scheduling platform, which was founded in 2007.

 

About Tamedia 

Tamedia, a leading Swiss media company founded in 1893, reported growing digital revenues in the first half of 2013. The Digital business division saw its revenues jump by 81.1 per cent from CHF 61.8 million to CHF 111.9 million, accounting for 21 per cent of total revenues and roughly a quarter of the profit. The company’s goal is to further invest in the digital sector over the coming years as well as to develop it’s existing digital activities.

More information: www.tamedia.ch