DPWN Delivery Challenged by German Publishers

A group of German companies that publish seven newspapers are planning to set up a company which will compete with Deutsche Post World Net AG’s mail delivery business, WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported, without citing sources, in an extract of its Thursday edition. It said the companies are Madsack-Gruppe – publisher of the Hannoversche Allgemeine newspaper – and the publishers of the newspapers Volksstimme, Mannheimer Morgen, Darmstaedter Echo, as well as Holtzbrinck-Gruppe papers Suedkurier, Saarbruecker Zeitung and Main-Post. The report said the joint venture plans to start its own delivery network next year and will deliver all other forms of materials which are currently under the monopoly of Deutsche Post. It said the venture has already obtained a permit from the German Postal and Telecommunication Office. The group plans to invest 500 mln dm [US$233M] in the project and expects to get a market share of 30 pct, which the magazine said would mean an annual sales loss of over 5 bln dm [US$2.3B] for Deutsche Post.

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