RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. (BIT: RCS), (formerly Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera) based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV. It is also one of the leading operators in the advertisement sales & distribution markets.
History
Founded in 1927 by entrepreneur Angelo Rizzoli as A. Rizzoli & Co., it started in the press industry by buying out four national magazines, and later entering the publishing industry. Restructured and taken over a number of times, particularly in the 1980s when two of its executives became involved in the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due - or P2. Following the 1982 death of Roberto Calvi, the group applied for bankruptcy protection and greatly downsized.[1]
Operations
RCS MediaGroup's five divisions include newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, the internet and digital and satellite TV; it also has a division which handles advertising sales & distribution markets across all media divisions. In Italy The group manages large daily newspapers such as Corriere della Sera, publish popular magazines including Novella 2000 and Il Mondo; and a diverse range of school, university, and business publications.[1]
40% of group sales are generated outside Italy. In Spain through Unedisa it publishes leading daily newspaper El Mundo, which expresses the opinion of the Spanish conservative right, and in France through the publishing company Groupe Flammarion.[1] It also has representation in Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. Already distributing the Italian version, in March 2008, RCS reached agreement with Global Media Publishing to launch a Russian version of its Sport Week magazine and develop a Russian language website sportweek.ru, which will be supplemented with mobile phone services.[2]
The financial investment division holds interest in the capital of major Italian companies, including Banca Intesa, the internet company Dada, and Pirelli (which holds a complementary cross-holding).[1]
The company employs 5,197 employees, of which 3,354 are based in Italy, and the remaining mainly in Spain (1,024) and France (694).[3]
Divisions
RCS Quotidiani
RCS Quotidiani is the publisher of the group's daily newspapers in Italy and in many other countries. The company holds a leadership position in the national daily press in Italy, where it has a 19% market share, and in Spain, with a 18% market share.[4]
- Companies[4]
- RCS Digital, a company which manages and develops Italian digital media publishing activities.
- RCS Sport, a company that organizes the most important cycling events in Italy, including the Giro d'Italia and some of the most prestigious Classics, such as the Milan – San Remo, the Giro di Lombardia and the Tirreno–Adriatico, together with other events linked to summer and winter sports. RCS Sport organises the Milan Marathon and manages the sponsorship rights for the Italy National Football Team. Since 2008, it has also been a partner of the Italy national rugby league team, and has entered the motorsport industry with the indoor supercross format, Superiders.[5]
- Unidad Editorial (96.48%, also present in the periodical sector), the leader in the daily press and in the on-line information sector through El Mundo, Expansión and Marca.
- Newspapers[6]
RCS Periodici
RCS Periodici publishes the group's magazines. In Italy the company has a market share of about 18%, with a portfolio of more than 30 publications.[7]
- Companies[7]
- Sfera Editore
- Editrice Abitare Segesta
- Rizzoli Publishing Italia
- Pubblibaby
- RCS Multimedia, a new integrated multimedia system that was launched in late 2008.
- Rizzoli Publishing Italia (head of activities)
- Digicast, a publisher of digital channels, distributed in Italy through SKY Italia.
- New Media
- Unidad Editorial (96.48%), Spanish sector
- Flammarion, French sector
- Magazines[8]
- Oggi
- Visto
- OK La salute prima di tutto
- Novella 2000
- Astra
- Domenica Quiz
- Domenica Quiz Mese
- Max
- L'Europeo
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- Amica
- A
- Brava Casa
- Donna e Mamma
- Dolce Attesa
- Insieme
- Io e il mio bambino
- Imagine
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RCS Libri
RCS Libri runs the group's activities in the book publishing sector. Its structure comprises five divisions: Libri Italia, RCS Education, RCS Partworks, Flammarion and Rizzoli USA.[9]
- Publishing houses[10]
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- Rizzoli Editore
- Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli (BUR)
- Skira
- Sonzogno
- Rizzoli USA
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- Rizzoli-Longanesi (50%, in joint venture with Mauri Spagnol Group)
RCS Pubblicità
RCS Pubblicità is the agency for the acquisition of advertising customers for the group's publications. It is the leading company in Italy for the acquisition of advertising for print media, for which it has a market share of 19%.[11]
- Companies[11]
- Blei, a media centre for the international market.
- IGPDecaux (48%, in joint venture with JCDecaux), the leading operator in Italy for the acquisition of advertisements in the poster, street furnishing and transport markets.
- Unidad Editorial Publicidad
- Novomedia
Other
Ownership
On January 26, 2005 shareholders which control 63.527% of ordinary share capital came to a shareholders' agreement freezing, the participants from selling or trading their holdings. On March 14, 2008 the Consob group agreed to extend their agreement for another three years until 2011.[12] The members and holdings of the Consob group are:[13][14]
- Mediobanca - 14.029%
- Fiat (through Fiat Partecipazioni) - 10.291%
- Efiparind BV (Pesenti family) - 7.748%, of which:
- Dorint Holding (Della Valle family) - 5.499%
- Premafin Finanziaria (Ligresti family) - 5.462%
- Pirelli (Marco Tronchetti Provera) - 5.166%
- Intesa Sanpaolo (Corrado Passera) - 5.065%
- Intesa Sanpaolo - 5.051%
- Banco di Napoli - 0.009%
- Banca IMI - 0.005%
- Assicurazioni Generali - 3.762%
- Generali Vie - 3.700%
- INA Assitalia - 0.042%
- Toro Assicurazioni - 0.019%
- BSI SA - 0.001%
- Merloni Group (Francesco Merloni, through Merloni Invest) - 2.090%
- Sinpar (Lucchini family) - 2.060%
Other major shareholders outside the Consob group include:
- Benetton Group (through Edizione Holding) - 5.001%
- UBS AG (through UBS Trust) - 5.951%
- Banco Popolare - 5.951%
- Si.To. Financiere (through Partecipazioni Editoriali) - 5.140%
- Giuseppe Rotelli (through Pandette Finanziaria) - 3.949%;
Board of directors
- Honorary chairman: Cesare Romiti
- Chairman: Piergaetano Marchetti
- Deputy chairman: Renato Pagliaro
- Managing director : Antonio Perricone
- Directors: Claudio De Conto, Giorgio Fantoni, Franzo Grande Stevens, Alessandro Pedersoli, Carlo Pesenti, Renato Pagliaro, Corrado Passera, Raffaele Augusti, Roberto Bertazzoni, Virginio Rognoni, Paolo Merloni, John Philip Elkann, Diego Della Valle, Jonella Ligresti, Andrea Moltrasio, Berardino Libonati
Timeline
The timeline of the company:[15]
- 1927 - Angelo Rizzoli launches publishing activities at his printing company “A. Rizzoli & C.”
- 1952 - company is renamed “Rizzoli Editore”
- 1974 - company purchases “Editoriale Corriere della Sera S.a.s.”, which publishes the daily newspaper Il Corriere della Sera
- 1976 - company takes over management of La Gazzetta dello Sport
- 1984 - Gemina acquires controlling holding of Rizzoli
- 1990 - acquisition of holding in Spanish company Unidad Editorial S.A., the present day holding of which is 96.1%
- 1997 - Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera is separated from Gemina’s other industrial activities, which are transferred to the new HdP company
- 2000 - acquisition of French publishing house Editions Flammarion
- 2001 - creation of Fondazione Corriere della Sera
- 2002 - acquisition of holding in Dada S.p.A., which at present stands at 46.54%
- 2003 - company is renamed RCS MediaGroup
- 2006 - acquisition of first holding in Digicast, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary
- 2007 - acquisition, through Unidad Editorial, of Spanish publishing group Recoletos Grupo de Comunicaciòn
- 2007 - acquisition of 34.6% of Finelco Group
- 2008 - acquisition, through Unidad Editorial, of 100% of VEO Television (already held at 55,4%)
References
External links